‘A new way of transportation:’ electric bikes

When people think of electric transportation, their thoughts usually go to electric cars.

But what about electric bicycles? Electric motorcycles?

The world of electric biking is an affordable way to make transportation cleaner and more accessible in the eyes of Susan Gautsch, owner of FreeToRoam eBiking, a shop in Albuquerque that rents, leases, sells and services electric bicycles.

“It’s a new way of transportation,” Gautsch said.

Gautsch, who is also president of BikeABQ, said e-biking really took off during the pandemic, which is when she launched FreeToRoam. On top of it being environmentally friendly, riding electric bicycles has a lot of physical and mental health benefits, she said, and eliminates barriers with regular biking such as hills, headwinds and getting sweaty.

“It enable(s) all different ages to sort of ride together and keep up. It’s like the grand equalizer,” she said.

FreeToRoam wasn’t the only new electric bike option in the pandemic. Christopher Pino, service to sales manager at Thunderbird Harley-Davidson in Albuquerque, said the motorcycle company started carrying LiveWire electric motorcycles nationwide in 2020.

He said in the four or so years the location on Alameda Boulevard has had the electric motorcycles, they’ve sold 15 or 20 of them.

“We’re seeing more and more interest in them,” he said. “It’s a different type of rider.”

The bike is very different from a conventional motorcycle, running silently and smoothly with an automatic drive system, he said.

Pino said LiveWire started testing its original first-generation electric bike in 2014. But, he said, a lot of people still don’t really know electric motorcycles are an option.

“A lot of people really don’t know. I mean, EV motorcycles have been around for a while,” he said.

Electric dirt bikes are a new option at Bobby J’s Yamaha, a dealership in Albuquerque. Parts Manager Nevil Benard said the shop started selling electric Surron and Stark dirt bikes this year.

There’s a large appetite for them, Benard said, and the market is rapidly advancing with the newer products.

“The technology is just absolutely incredible,” he said.

Like with the electric motorcycles, Benard said the main difference in riding an electric dirt bike is the power and the ride.

He said the heavier style of the bike is an adjustment, especially for people who have been riding their whole lives. Benard said there’s just no way to lighten the battery on an electric bike.

“If you’re coming off of years of riding normal dirt bikes into something electric, it is definitely a weird feeling,” he said.

Compared to the roaring engine of a conventional dirt bike, the electric bike can be startlingly quiet. Benard said that can be a plus.

“A lot of these smaller electric bikes make no noise. They’re not going to bother any neighborhoods,” he said, referring to off-road areas where biking is allowed near neighborhoods.

The silent engine is a drawback for others. Pino said some motorcyclists are worried about the safety of electric bikes since other drivers can’t hear them. However, Pino said visibility is really more important than sound.

Switching gears

Electric bicycles naturally tend to cost more than regular bikes that don’t have any battery at all. The average price of an electric bike as of 2022 was about $2,000, according to REI.

Benard said an increased price is typically true for electric dirt bikes, too. The recreational models Bobby J’s sell range from around $6,000 for some bikes, and the larger, customizable track bike is about $14,000. There are also smaller models for kids that cost $2,000 to $4,000.

Pino said electric motorcycles don’t necessarily cost more than other motorcycles. He compared a gas-fueled Nightster, which is a 975 combustible motor, to an electric Del Mar; both bikes are under $16,000.

He said the range is pretty equal on electric and conventional bikes, too.

Pino said a first generation Livewire gets about 150 miles on a full charge, and a Del Mar gets about 120 miles on a full charge. He compared that to the Nightster, which gets around 120 miles on gas.

“Not very far off,” he said.

The electric bikes have to charge at specific charging stations, though. Charging time can range from one to five hours, Pino said, depending on the type of bike and power of the charging unit.

“There are quick charging stations that you can find, and they’re nationwide. The only thing is, if you’re going to plan a longer trip, you’d have to plan it accordingly, just like you do an EV,” he said.

Benard said Bobby J’s electric dirt bikes come with charging systems. The bigger ones, which are a 110 or 220 volt system, require a specialty outlet, he said, and the smaller, recreational models can charge in the garage with a normal wall outlet.

For electric bicycles, Gautsch said the batteries can be charged in a normal wall outlet.

Gautsch explained that the batteries in electric bikes are lithium ions, which have caught flak for causing what, in certain instances, have ended in massive fires. She said it’s the same thing with computers or hoverboards that blow up — “it’s dangerous.”

“There’s been a lot of pressure on the industry in the last two years, I would say, to have a certification for these batteries,” Gautsch said.

She said she keeps a big garbage can full of water, if it’s ever needed at her shop for an overheating bike, but hasn’t had to use it. She said she did have one time when someone brought a bike in, and her service crew warned the owner that it was overheating and wasn’t allowed in the shop.

If a battery dies by overheating or otherwise, replacing that component is expensive. Gautsch said about 40% of the cost of an electric bike is the battery.

Both Pino and Benard said, in general, electric motorcycles don’t require as much maintenance as traditional bikes because of the different technology that goes into the machines.

“If you blow up a combustion engine on a dirt bike, you’re spending a few thousand dollars to replace these pieces,” Benard said. “When it comes to an electric bike, they’re not having to do the same maintenance that these combustion engines are doing. So they’re not doing oil changes. They’re not replacing top ends. They’re not doing pistons and rings, things like that.”

Benard said he’s not sure yet if the lower maintenance costs compared to a gas-fueled dirt bike balance out the higher upfront costs because of how new the addition of the electric dirt bikes are to his shop.

“It’s still such a popular craze right now, and we recently started carrying them this year, so we haven’t seen if it’s going to balance out or not,” he said.

He said a lot of people see the bikes on social media, and the electric models are increasingly popular with younger riders. Benard said he has a factory 450, which should be the fastest new bike you can get, but the full-size electric track dirt bike “is by far the fastest thing that I’ve ever ridden in my life.”

“There’s no hesitation. It’s on or off,” he said. “It’s just completely incredible.”

The technology is advancing so fast, he said, that the racing community still needs to figure out where electric bikes fit in.

“There’s not quite a class for electric motorcycles yet because they are so fast and they are so new,” he said. “They don’t know if they can race with the 450s or with the 250s or where they really lie in the lineup.”

Benard said the electric technology is also creating similarities in different biking classes, from regular bikes to dirt bikes.

“The transition now between the bicycle world into the motorsport world is much smoother now and they’re starting to blend together,” he said.

New Mexico was one of the last states in the nation to legally define electric bicycles, putting them into different categories based on their technology and speeds.

That bill, which passed the 2023 legislative session, also created restrictions for riding certain e-bikes along bicycle trails, unless local government entities waive the rules. Santa Fe has lifted the restrictions; Albuquerque hasn’t, though an ordinance to allow e-bikes on city paths is slated to be heard before a city committee on April 10.

Gautsch said New Mexico was the only state to allow local jurisdictions not to permit certain e-bikes to use bike paths, “much to my chagrin and many other people’s chagrin.”

“What some of the legislation is doing is it’s changing the emphasis around the type of device more to the behavior,” she said. “So, for example, a Porsche can go 140, 160 miles an hour, but we don’t ban them from our residential streets. We do ban them (from) driving that fast.”

Incentivizing electric bikes

There aren’t any electric bike or motorcycle tax credits set into state law.

New Mexico’s new electric vehicle tax credits only apply to vehicles with four wheels.

State lawmakers failed to pass a bill in the 2023 legislative session that would’ve created a $1,200 rebate for low-income residents buying e-bikes.

Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, was a sponsor on the legislation and told the Journal it’s worth bringing forward again, though he hasn’t decided whether or not to pursue it himself again. It’s also an election year for all of New Mexico’s legislators.

“We did it as a way to help, frankly, low-income people commute in and help with their transportation expenses, which is kind of opposite of how electric vehicle tax credits tend to help people only with high amounts of disposable income,” he said.

Gautsch, who helped draft the legislation, said the bill was modeled after Colorado’s, which has really helped that state get gas vehicles off the road. She said the growth of e-bikes has far exceeded EVs.

“Switch your car payment to an e-bike payment, which is exponentially less,” she said.

The Public Service Company of New Mexico offers some bike rebates, and in higher amounts for low-income communities. Through the utility’s transportation electrification program, recently approved by the state in February, there’s a $250 rebate for the first 300 people who buy an electric bicycle and a $1,000 rebate for the first 150 customers who buy an electric motorcycle.

On the faster side of the road, there’s very little movement on motorcycle tax credits.

Pino at Harley-Davidson said there definitely should be tax credits available for electric motorcycles, considering that they’re better for the environment and help people save on gas expenses.

Steinborn said he doesn’t know why motorcycles shouldn’t also be considered when proposing electric tax credits.

“You know, transportation accounts for about half of our carbon emissions, as I understand it. So I think anything we can do that reduces our carbon emissions and, in this particular case, helps people lower their transportation overhead is kind of a win-win,” he said.