Hacker News Reader

$500 worth of batteries, $500 worth of motor, $500 worth of bike, and $2500 worth of R&D/marketing/CEO salary expenses.

Batteries have come down in price significantly, just in 2016, I'm sure due to the demand from electric cars. When e-bikes become more popular, and competition increases, the price will come down further. Right now, your best value for an e-bike is a DIY kit.

Hazarding a wild guess here that mopeds are produced in much larger volumes, which drives the prices for both their parts and assembly down.

The ebikes in that article did seem very expensive, unless dropping $3k-$4k for a bike is acceptable. Do any HNers know of any budget alternatives under $1k?

Batteries. Same as electric cars.

Also, many eBikes bodies I've seen are made from aluminum or even carbon fiber rather than steel, to account for the weight added by the battery I'm guessing.