What an electric motorcycle rider can save each month, and what could change it

The base case

Take a rider who uses 6 litres of petrol on each working day and works 22 days a month. At ₦1,355 a litre, that is ₦8,130 a day and ₦178,860 a month.

Now suppose the same rider pays ₦1,100 a day for electricity or battery swaps. Over 22 days that is ₦24,200. The monthly saving is ₦178,860 minus ₦24,200, which is ₦154,660, or about ₦155,000. That is about ₦1.86 million over a year, and it cuts the fuel cost by about 86%.

What happens if the assumptions move

• Petrol falls to ₦1,000 a litre. Petrol costs ₦132,000 a month, the saving falls to ₦107,800, and the electric case still wins.
• Energy costs double to ₦2,200 a day. The energy bill is ₦48,400 and the saving is ₦130,460.
• The rider uses less fuel than assumed. The saving scales down in proportion, so check your own receipts.

Emissions

The 6 litres a day add up to 1,584 litres a year. Using the commonly cited figure of about 2.3 kg of carbon dioxide per litre of petrol, that is about 3.6 tonnes a year not emitted at the tailpipe. That is before the emissions of generating the electricity, which depend on where the power comes from. We state tailpipe emissions as tailpipe emissions.

What the sum leaves out

• The cost of buying or leasing the vehicle, which is what the saving has to pay back.
• Maintenance, which we have left at zero savings on purpose.
• Battery replacement over the life of the vehicle.
• Time lost charging or looking for a swap station.

Try your own numbers in the rider savings calculator.

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