You Can Get From Los Angeles To San Francisco For Less Than $20, But It Won’t Be Fun Or Easy

The world is in a state of turmoil; the dollar is weak and inflation has bulldozed the buying power of average Americans, but we still have to get around. So what’s the most frugal way to road trip? Whether it’s gasoline or electric propulsion, is it possible to go 500 miles for under, say, $20? Zack and Ari, the hosts of RevZilla‘s awesome CTXP YouTube program, set out to find the answers to these burning questions. Zack chose the inimitable Honda Grom, while Ari rode astride home-state hero Zero’s S electric motorcycle. From A-to-B, which one would be the better ride, and which would get to the destination for less money? 

The path from Los Angeles to San Francisco is a well trodden one, a simple six-ish hour drive up the central valley on I-5. That would be way too easy, however, and there’s almost no way to do that run for a single crisp Andrew Jackson, especially in the land of $5 per gallon gasoline. For one thing, the Grom isn’t exactly highway legal so they couldn’t take that route anyway. The Zero S is definitely powerful enough to handle a highway run, but high speed really saps the efficiency of the electric powertrain by 15 percent or more, and reduces the bike’s range from a claimed 113 miles at 55 miles per hour or less. And all of that just underscores the fact that riding on the highway doesn’t make for compelling video. 

I’ve done this back-roads route through California, or one like it, a handful of times in my riding career, and sometimes it goes great and other times not so much. Doing it cheaply just adds another level of difficulty. Eating discounted grocery store off-brand hot dogs with no condiments and sleeping on the cold ground at an over-night EV charger are just par for the course when you’re trying to stick to a ridiculously low budget. 

Given 500 miles and a $20 budget, you have to pick something that travels at least 25 miles per dollar spent. Regular gasoline in California right now averages $4.89 per gallon, meaning you need to get at least 122.25 miles per gallon in order to just barely make it. Fuel saving, coasting, turning your bike off at stop lights, and drafting are seriously important. Meanwhile public EV charging in the Golden State is around 34 cents per kWh, meaning the electric bike needs to achieve better than 117 watts per mile, which is within the Zero’s ability. Spoiler alert, they made it with money to spare, but they had to be extremely conservative on the throttle and it took nearly two days of riding. That doesn’t sound like much fun to me. 

With Zack’s $6.50 remaining and Ari’s $12.09 not only was the Zero far better on miles-per-nickel, but if they pooled their remaining funds, they might have enough for the return journey as well. They would have to skip the hot dogs, though.