Cost of transport in Thailand – Car vs Motorbike vs E-scooter

Some people look at the prices of electric scooters and say they are expensive. Unfortunately, that’s quite unavoidable due to the high import tax on e-scooters in Thailand (praying the government will do something about this soon!). But what these people don’t know, is that e-scooters will save you significant amounts of money in the long run.

Putting aside the cost of the actual vehicles themselves (which are cheaper than motorbikes actually), let’s look at the ongoing costs of travelling with these 3 different types of vehicles. Here is some math to show you exactly how much money you can save:

*Fuel prices are based on current market rates as of March 2019

Cars

Assuming an average petrol consumption of 9.4km/L (or 10.6L per 100km), and fuel price of 28 THB/L, it will cost you 2.98 THB to travel one single km.

Say the average commuter travels 30 km everyday (15km to work and 15km back), he will travel a total of 10,950 km per year, costing him 32,631 THB in petrol costs.

Motorbikes

Assuming an average petrol consumption of 23.7km/L, and fuel price of 25 THB/L, it will cost you 1.05 THB to travel one single km.

Again, taking the average rider who travels 30 km per day, gasoline will cost him 11,497 THB per year.

Electric scooters

Using the standard electricity tariff in Thailand of 5 THB/KwH, and a normal e-scooter such as the Zero 8 which has a total battery capacity of 500 wH or 0.5 KwH (48V x 10.4 aH) per full charge.

Averaging 30km per full charge, an e-scooter would cost the rider only 0.08 THB (8 satang) to travel one single km.

In one year, the total cost of travelling via electric scooters would only come up to a measly 876 THB.

Conclusion

So there you have it! Even with the ridiculously cheap fuel price in Thailand, travelling by car is still a massive 37 times more expensive than electric scooters, and motorbikes – 13 times more expensive!

Use an electric scooter instead of a car and you can save more than 31,000 THB per year. Compared to a motorbike, you will still be able to save more than 10,000 THB per year!

Of course, saving money isn’t the only benefit of using an electric scooter. It also helps save the environment, keep pollution levels lower so everyone can have a better quality of life.