Cities, states, and major companies are racing to give people incentives to switch to electric bikes for their work commute or gadding about town — experiments they hope will reduce car traffic and improve people’s health.
Why it matters: E-bikes — which give people varying levels of motorized assistance — are environmentally friendly alternatives to cars and trucks. Mass adoption could make a big dent in road congestion and carbon emissions.
- But they’re expensive — typically around $2,600 for a commuter version, and $5,000 for a cargo model — so lawmakers, businesses, and others are trying to make them more accessible.
Driving the news: The number of e-bike incentive programs nationwide exploded 0ver the last year as the COVID-19 pandemic drove enthusiasm for all things bicycle — e-bikes in particular.
- About 80 e-bike incentive programs are active, have been proposed, or completed across the U.S. and Canada, according to a tracker maintained by Portland State University’s Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC).
- Some offer cash subsidies, rebates, tax credits, or low-interest loans.
- Others give people free use of an e-bike for a limited time, or offer a bike “lending library.”
- Roughly 25% of such programs are meant specifically to reduce commuting costs and car dependence for low-income people.
For example: Denver offers rebates of up to $1,700 to residents of certain income levels; Oakland is setting up a lending system in low-income neighborhoods; Worcester, Massachusetts is giving away 100 e-bikes.
- Instant rebates or discounts are working better than delayed options, experts say — but it’s unclear how big incentives need to be or how they should be structured to drive adoption and use.
- “There is no right way to do the incentive program right now,” said John MacArthur, sustainable transportation program manager at TREC.
- The “overwhelming majority” of bike adoption programs offer “cash incentives in the form of post-purchase rebates or point-of-sale discounts,” per a white paper that MacArthur and his team published in May.
The big picture: On the federal level, the proposed E-BIKE Act would grant a 30% tax credit on purchases — but it got axed from the Inflation Reduction Act at the 11th hour.
- Bike advocates are hopeful it will be reintroduced and passed.
And there’s been record movement at the state level, with five — Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Vermont — passing or renewing e-bike incentive programs, per advocacy group PeopleForBikes.
- Dozens of electric utilities, cities, and towns are getting into the act, plus private employers such as Amazon (which introduced bike subsidies) and Google (which offered a free lending program).