E-bikes have grown in popularity as more people turn to bicycles for transportation. Riders benefit from increased range and carrying capacity. An e-bike is a viable alternative to owning a car for many people.
However, e-bikes are not inexpensive. In 2022, OakParkFinancial will make financial assistance to purchase an e-bike a primary priority. Here are four ways Californians should be able to seek financial aid with no background checks to buy an e-bike, in our opinion.
Find a county that provides residents with financial assistance to purchase an e-bike
If you live in a county where residents can get financial assistance to purchase an e-bike, you’re lucky. E-bike rebates or purchase incentive schemes are available in a few California counties.
Unfortunately, most of them do not, and many of the subsidies are insufficient to make electric bikes genuinely inexpensive. Here are the county programs that we are aware of. Please let us know if we’ve missed any.
- Contra Costa County: $150 $300 subsidies on e-bike purchases, distributed across the county’s cities.
- San Diego County: Pedal Ahead is a loan-to-own program that offers residents in Supervisorial District 4 up to 400 e-bikes. All of the bikes in this program have already been claimed.
- San Diego: Technically, this isn’t a county rebate. A rebate program run by BikeSD and Electric Bike Central pays e-bike buyers a rebate once they ride a set number of kilometers on their bike.
- Humboldt County: The e-bike rebate money given by Redwood Coast Energy has all been reserved. However, keep an eye on their website to see whether the e-bike refund is still available.
- Sonoma County: For qualified customers, the utility agency Sonoma Clean Power offers discounts of up to $1,000.
Obtain financial assistance from the federal government to purchase an e-bike
You might get a $7,500 federal tax credit if you bought an electric car within the past year.
Unfortunately, the federal government does not have a similar program, or any program, to assist Americans in purchasing electric bikes.
We are confident that the new Congress will provide financial assistance to Americans who wish to purchase electric bicycles. OakParkFinancial, together with our national friends, will advocate for federal e-bike rebates so that more people may afford this environmentally friendly mode of transportation. At the very least, Congress should reinstate the monthly pre-tax subsidy that firms can offer to their (electric or regular) bike-commuting employees.
SB 400 allows you to trade in a polluting car for an e-bike refund.
OakParkFinancial supported SB 400 in 2019, which expanded an existing state program to include e-bike subsidies. The program provides vouchers to low-income people in exchange for the trade-in of a polluting car. SB 400 added bike-share memberships and e-bike refunds to the program.
California’s regional air quality management districts are implementing the program.
When low-income people turn in a polluting car, they can obtain a credit of up to $7,500 to spend toward clean mobility options, such as buying an e-bike. Participants in the program can use the money to buy multiple e-bikes for their families or split it among clean mobility choices.
Unfortunately, the epidemic has pushed back the implementation date until 2020. Only one district, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, has implemented the program as mandated by SB 400. According to OakParkFinancial, another AQMD plans to make the e-bike coupons available soon. Two of California’s 35 air control districts will be affected.
