Wheeling and Dealing: Denver's E-Bike Rebate Program Is on a Roll

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Wheeling and Dealing: Denver's E-Bike Rebate Program Is on a Roll



The first time I hopped on an e-bike, I felt like I was breaking some unwritten rule about biking. But I was late for a Rockies game and needed all the help I could get — even if it came from an electric motor. By the time I arrived at Coors Field — no beads of sweat on my forehead, breathing just fine in the mile-high air — I was hooked.To get more news about fatest ebike, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

So when the City of Denver launched an e-bike rebate program on Earth Day, it seemed like a sign from the bike gods that it was time to pivot away from paying for Lyft and Lime e-bikes and get my own.To get more news about 52V Ebike, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

The rebates were offered in a few tiers: Any resident could qualify for $400, and people with more limited incomes could get a $1,200 rebate. For those interested in cargo e-bikes, which have storage capacity that can handle even Costco runs, an additional $500 was available.To get more news about himiway ebike, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.
I wasn’t alone in applying for a rebate. News spread quickly after the Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency announced the project. By May 11, CASR had stopped accepting applications because it had already received 3,250 for a three-year program budgeted at $3 million for the first year.
We definitely anticipated some interest, but I think there was much more than we thought we would see,” says Winna MacLaren, CASR’s manager of communication and engagement. “Funny enough, it was supposed to be a soft launch.”

But since fewer than 1,000 of those rebates have been paid out so far (they’re only good for two months), CASR will again accept applications starting July 11, with 2,000 available.On July 1, 2020, the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency was chartered; the new city department designed to help fight climate change had been pushed by both Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration and Denver City Council. In November 2020, Denver voters approved a .25 percent sales tax increase that would generate up to $40 million a year to fund the new office starting in 2021.

This climate protection fund was earmarked for programs in a handful of categories: energy-efficient buildings and homes, adaptation and resilience, environmental justice, renewable energy, workforce development and sustainable transportation.E-bikes have been around in some form since the late nineteenth century but have really grown in popularity over the past three decades. In 2009, Colorado became one of the first states to define and legalize e-bikes. And then in 2017, the state further refined its classification system, which affects where e-bikes can be used.

The bikes range in price from around a thousand dollars to ten times that. But they all share a basic defining element: an electric motor. “They exist to make riding a bike easier,” notes Aishwarya Krishnamoorthy, director of marketing and communications at Bicycle Colorado.

E-bikes come in three classes. Class I is a pedal-assist bike, with a motor that kicks in when the biker is pedaling. Class II is a throttle-assist bike, which allows a biker to move forward without pedaling by using the throttle. Both of these classes have top speeds of 20 miles per hour. A Class III e-bike can go up to 28 miles per hour, whether the rider is using the throttle, pedal or both. Class I and II e-bikes are allowed anywhere a regular bike is in Denver, while there are more restrictions on Class III e-bikes.

As CASR considered how it could encourage the use of e-bikes to reduce car trips, helping reduce an individual’s carbon footprint and also making roads less congested, it looked to a pilot program launched by the state two years ago. In 2020, the Colorado Energy Office and Bicycle Colorado had provided Class I e-bikes to thirteen low-income essential workers.