Not really any personal experience but I know a lot of riders who use them so some anecdotal thoughts, albeit it from an off road/mountain biking perspective:
Firstly, everyone that has one thinks they are fantastic, absolutely no doubt about that. That said, there are ongoing maintenance costs which can be quite sizeable, and I think the nature of the design is such that home maintenance is not really possible even for a fairly confident ‘tinkerer’, so there’s definitely the potential for increased costs on top of the hefty outlay.
Naturally for that reason the guarantee length is critical, particularly with the battery because (unless I’m mistaken) the bike is effectively finished once the battery is kaput, so a bit like an electric car on lease you’re buying yourself peace of mind for a period of time. You might find yourself on the painful cycle of upgrading again and again but that seems to be the way with electric transport regardless. I don’t know anything about the schemes you’re referring to but if there’s an opportunity to capitalise then it’s certainly got to be worth looking at.
One last thing, in the clubs there is a lot of excitement about the new generation with smaller, lighter motors. These mean the bikes are much easier to throw around on jumps and trails and are now really pulling in the younger riders that want to go harder and faster without compromising on the centre of gravity balance. Wouldn’t necessarily be an issue on a commute to work but I thought that was interesting and a sign of real progress nonetheless.
Hope that makes some sort of sense!
