Financing An Electric Bike: All you Need to Know

E-Bikes

Electric bikes are incredibly fun to use and can help transport you wherever you need to go in style. But there’s just one downside to these otherwise fantastic personal transportation devices: they can be quite expensive. Thus, if you’re considering buying one, you may need to know about financing an electric bike.

That doesn’t mean that you should allow yourself to miss out on all the fun and adventure that electric bikes offer, though. Even if you don’t have $5,000 of disposable income available right now, there are still responsible and reasonable ways to buy one. 

To help out with this, we’ve put together some information to help you learn about financing an electric bike.

What is Electric Bike Finance?

Ebike finance is a way of purchasing an ebike without having to come up with the total cost of the e-bike at the time that you pick up the bike. The cost of the bike can be financed or loaned by an ebike store. So the ebike store provides you with the funds with an agreement that you will pay back the cost of the bike on a regular basis.

The e bike finance is just a buy now pay later arrangement. So you do need a decent credit score for a store to agree to provide you with an electric bike loan.

Financing an Expensive Bike vs Buying a Cheap Bike

Some people think the solution to avoiding the heavy price tags of electric bikes is to opt for a cheaper variant. This, unfortunately, is rarely a good idea.

The problem with this is that many cheap electric bikes are not of very good quality in several areas. Cheap bikes are more likely to have less than desirable warranties, won’t have great build quality, so they’ll be more likely to fall apart quickly, and they’ll have motors or batteries that aren’t up to par.

This means that they won’t go very fast and won’t go very far. Plus, they are more likely to have annoyingly long battery charge times.

Expensive eBikes are made more affordable

So instead of paying the full price of a cheap bike now, you can get a good quality bike that you can slowly pay off over the course of a few months or a year. This is very doable as long as you plan the financing so that you pay a fraction of the total cost each month. 

Sometimes you’ll end up paying a small percentage of interest with an electric bike payment plan, but it can be worth it in the long run.

financing an electric bike

How to do E Bike Finance

Many major manufacturers or distributors of electric bikes offer these kinds of electric bike loans or “buy now pay later” electric bike financing options.

Keep in mind that not all major sellers of ebikes offer these kinds of electric bike payment plans, but many do.

Find an ebike vendor that offers finance plans

When it comes to where you can find a good place for financing an electric bike, online vendors are almost always going to be your best bet.

If you live near a physical store that sells ebikes, you can contact them for any electric bike loan plans or ebike finance plans. Odds are, however, that they won’t offer the kind of plan you’re looking for, if they have any plans at all.

A good example of an online vendor who can give you fair e-bike financing is a store like Ebike Generation. They have a super simple application process and multiple options for making payments. And as a bonus, they charge a 0% interest fee!

Apply for a plan

Once you’ve chosen the kind of bike you want to purchase, apply for a financing plan as opposed to paying for the ebike all at once.

Most retailers will accept major credit cards, Paypal accounts, and other payment methods such as Quadpay.

Take note that retailers may take a couple of days to confirm and approve your loan or financing plan before they ship the bike out to you.

Discuss the payment process

Once the approval has been verified, you should then be given a few options on how you want the ebike financing to take place. Including how much you want to pay per month and how long you want the overall payment process to last.

Many retailers will actually incentivize you to pay off the bike in 6 months or less because then you end up having to pay zero interest on the entire thing! These options often apply to plans where you will be paying at least $100, which is no problem for electric bicycles as they usually cost a couple of grand each.

In this case, financing an electric bike makes more sense than saving up money over several months and then spending it all at once. If you’re going to be spending the same cash with zero interest, an e-bike finance plan basically allows you to get your bike several months earlier. It’s a win-win for you!

It’s important to realize that ebike finance plans are often flexible and aren’t designed to make you feel like you are being stressed or squeezed for money. You have a lot of control and power over determining how much you want to spend for each monthly payment.

ebike finance

The Benefits of Financing an Expensive Ebike

Makes expensive ebikes more affordable

Many of the people who want to finance an electric bike are interested in higher-quality electric bikes. Why is this? Because better quality electric bicycles tend to be the most expensive kinds of ebikes available.

For example, hunting ebikes tend to be larger than average, plus they’re made out of very high-quality materials to help them deal with the harsh elements of the wilderness, like deep mud trails and lots of debris. This is why they are almost always more expensive,  in fact some hunting ebikes cost over $6000.

But top of the range ebikes can be out of reach for many people with limited finances. Finance plans for them can make them much more cost effective.

Repayments can be arranged to suit your budget

You can work with your ebike store to find the repayment amount that suits your budget and income. Financing an electric bike is a very versatile method, and odds are you can afford it, even if you currently don’t think you can.

It’s even possible to pay the balance off early if you can afford to finalize the loan.

You can take your bike home immediately

Financing your ebike means that you take possession of the ebike straight away. Instead of saving up and having to wait to buy an ebike, you can start riding immediately your loan is approved.

It can be better than paying with cash

A 0% ebike loan is a far better option, even if you can afford to buy an ebike outright.

You can put the money you would’ve used to buy the e-bike into your savings account to get higher interest. All the while paying down your ebike with a 0% finance agreement.

More interest income in the bank and paying off an ebike with zero interest – it’s a win win!

Note: an ebike loan isn’t just limited to expensive bikes. Anyone who is in the market for a step-thru electric bike, a hybrid bike, a fat tire e-bike, or even a full suspension off-road electric bike can take their new electric bike home on an e bike payment plan.

 

electric bike loans

Final Words

Ebike financing ought to become a more common way for people to pay for their beloved electric vehicles. It lowers the barrier of entry, and it is a simple way to help ease any financial stress people are feeling.

Even if you already have all of the money sitting in the bank, electric bike finance is still a good option to consider. It gives you flexibility over a certain time period and essentially acts as a safety net in the rare event you enter a financially taxing situation.

Consider your options, plan ahead for the future, and you can have your beloved high-quality electric bike shipped to you as soon as tomorrow!