Governments around the world are investing in e-bike rebates to accelerate adoption and tackle climate change.
This week, Tasmania became the first Australian state to join them with a $1.2 million e-transport package.
Within this, Tasmanian e-bike buyers will get a helping hand after 17 November through a $200,000 e-bike and e-scooter rebate scheme that will cover up to 12% of the cost of a bike.
Tasmania's Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Roger Jaensch, says the e-transport package is delivering on actions in the government's Climate Change Action Plan.
“Transport is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,” Minister Jaensch said.
“Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan includes actions to reduce emissions from our transport sector by increasing the uptake of electric vehicles, and public and active transport.
“Our government’s e-transport package will provide rebates on the purchase of electric vehicles and e-mobility devices such as e-bikes, as well as interest free loans for home chargers."
To be eligible for a rebate you must be Tasmanian and have purchased an e-bike or cargo e-bike from a Tasmanian retailer after 17 November. The rebates are not available for businesses.
Rebates of up to $500 are available for standard e-bikes and up to $1000 for cargo e-bikes. This means on a $4000 e-bike a rebate of $480 would be available, or on a $8000 e-cargo bike it would be $960.
The rebates will be available in four rounds with $50,000 in rebates available in each round. Round 1 starts on 17 November, round 2 on 17 December, round 3 on 17 January and round 4 on 17 February.
The scheme requires an eligible e-bike to have been purchased before owners can apply for the rebate, which means people will have to take their chances on getting a rebate in one of the rounds.
To be eligible, e-bikes must meet current legal requirements of a 200-watt motor or 250-watt motor speed limited to 25km/h.
The Tasmanian government is the first in Australia to offer e-bike grants. Its decision was based on the success of similar programs in the US, Canada and European countries – and submissions from Bicycle Network.
As the scheme focuses on people swapping a car trip for an e-bike trip, retailers are being asked to point out e-bike models with useful transport features. These include:
- rear and front racks for baskets and panniers
- mud and chain guards
- a kickstand
- wired-in front and back lights
- sufficient battery range.
The $200,000 funding pool is also available to people buying e-scooters and e-skateboards, with rebates up to $250.
To measure the effectiveness of the rebate, recipients will be asked to fill out a survey once they buy a bike and again after six months.
The government has also launched a $750,000 rebate scheme for fully-electric vehicles. It is offering $2000 for new and second-hand electric cars brought into Tasmania for the first time.
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