Starting at around 4000 euros, five-digit sums are no exception: high-quality e-fullys are, to put it in a nutshell, very expensive compared to other bikes. This is no coincidence - even mountain bikes without a motor have risen significantly in price in recent years, with e-mountain bikes, the motor and battery are additional price drivers. "I can buy a motorbike for that!", some may exclaim indignantly. Sure, but do you really want to? E-mountainbikes are high-tech products that are subject to extremely high demands: Functionality, weight, efficiency! In return, you get a piece of sports equipment that offers you almost limitless possibilities in terms of leisure activities: Riding fun, sport, nature experience, action radius - what other piece of sports equipment can offer this to such an extent? So it's no wonder that the demand for e-mountainbikes is increasing rapidly - and that manufacturers can take a correspondingly large gulp from the bottle.
Of course, given the current sales prices, e-mountainbiking is becoming a hobby that only high earners can afford. Or those who put other needs on the back burner: Holidays, family, car, home. The high purchase costs of the bikes are compounded by the not inconsiderable follow-up costs. Repairs can be expensive due to the high-tech components, and the risk of theft increases with the value. So you add the annual insurance costs to the purchase price. Boy, boy, that's going to be expensive. Or maybe not?
Fortunately, the pressure to innovate in terms of financing options has also risen along with sales prices. After all, bikes that nobody can afford are of no use to either dealers or manufacturers. So it's no wonder that cash purchases are becoming less and less popular as a payment model. Instead, more and more customers are paying in instalments: Zero per cent offers for instalment purchases are becoming increasingly common, especially at large retailers, thanks to the generally low level of interest rates. However, a change in tax law in 2012, which put the leasing of bicycles on an equal footing with that of cars, was the starting signal for a wave of alternative ideas. The most prominent of these was employee leasing.
You can download the entire article on cash purchase, financing, dealer leasing and leasing providers for e-bikes from EMTB 4/2020 as a PDF below the article. The test costs 1.49 euros.
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Adrian Kaether
Editor
