If the U.S. is going to subsidize electric cars, why shouldn’t it help pay for electric bikes?
named the “Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act,” or—brace yourself—the “E-BIKE Act.” If passed in its current form, the bill would offer Americans a refundable tax credit worth 30 percent of a new e-bike’s purchase price, capped at $1,500.
Any e-bike or e-cargo bike costing less than $8,000 would be eligible. In practice, a purchaser of a new e-bike for $3,000 could claim a $900 credit on her following year’s tax return .Why underwrite electric bikes? Panetta says he’s motivated by a desire to fight climate change: “This bill can lower the financial barrier to biking, and e-bikes can lower our carbon footprint,” he told me. He cites athat found that a 15 percent e-bike mode share would translate to a 12 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from passenger transportation. The congressman is on firm ground here: An e-bike’s per-mile emissions are, and the e-bike’s extra pedal power makes it an appealing substitute for a car on trips that might be too distant or unpleasant for a pedal bike. The bill itself isn’t perfect, particularly because e-bike suppliers will need time to catch up to a sudden, government-prodded spike in demand. But would its passage be a big step forward for urban transportation? Yes.It’s worth looking across the Atlantic to understand how governments can help turn drivers into cyclists. Starting with Great Britain’s
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