How fast does an electric okada pay for itself?

A rider does not buy a motorcycle. They buy the difference between what they spend on fuel and what they spend on charging. Here is how to work it out.

Step 1: your real daily fuel spend

Not what you think it is, what it actually is. Most Lagos riders covering 120 to 150 km a day spend between ₦3,500 and ₦5,500 on petrol. Count a full week, including the day you refilled twice.

Step 2: what the same distance costs on electricity

A working e-motorcycle covers roughly 22 km per kWh. At 120 km a day that is about 5.5 kWh. At a tariff of ₦230 per kWh, the same day costs around ₦1,250 in charging or swap fees.

The difference is the business. ₦4,500 minus about ₦1,250 is roughly ₦3,250 a day, or close to ₦19,500 across a six-day week, that stays in your pocket.

Step 3: the payback week

Divide the price of the vehicle by the weekly saving. A ₦1.1M bike against a ₦19,500 weekly saving pays for itself in about 56 weeks outright, or considerably faster in practice because on a monthly plan you are paying the instalment out of the saving rather than out of your existing income.

Step 4: the things people forget

• Servicing. No oil, no filters, no plugs, no engine rebuild. This is a real second saving and it is rarely counted.
• Downtime. A swap takes minutes. A fuel queue does not.
• Battery health. Ask what the warranty covers and at what retention threshold.

Shortcut. Our calculator does all of this from two numbers in about fifteen seconds. Try it.