the company I work for started offering a sponsored lease program for "regular" and e-bikes five years ago. I took the offer, chose an e-bike in the 3kâ ballpark at a local dealer and paid around 70 a month off my salary (after taxes) over the next three years. The lease included insurance, break-down support if your bike would stop working in the middle of nowhere, spare parts up to a certain amount per year and so on.
After three years I could have either chosen a new bike for lease, returning the old one at the dealer, or purchased the old one for around 400â (which I did). I recently completed 9,000 km, about 95% of that mileage that I would have put on our family car instead if the bike hadn't been available. Thanks to the motor it's a great way of transportation for going to the dojo with a big bag or birding, you can simply stuff all the optics, cameras, bird guides (and a few beers of course :-)) into the "saddle bags" I mounted over the rear wheel and cycle along happily.
Thanks to being able to select the level of support I can either decide to work out more by reducing the motor output a level or two or enjoy a very comfy ride, basically turning uphill sections into straights.
The battery is still great after four years and a few hundred charging cycles (Yamaha kit), I still get 70-110km out of a single charge depending on ambient temperature, terrain travelled over and / or carrying capacity used.
Easily the best purchase in my recent years, I biked a decent amount before going "e" but now the family car will just be parked in its spot for weeks on end, only being used for longer trips or to stock up the beverage storage in the cellar. After removing the front wheel I can also stuff the entire bike into the back of the car, go to an interesting birding area or nature reserve by car and then have the e-bike available locally with all the advantages mentioned above (but a few less beers naturally :-)