- Denver, Colorado, in implementing a tax incentive for residents for buying an e-bike starting April 22.
- Residents are eligible for a $400 rebate for buying a regular e-bike, while there is an extra $500 rebate for purchasing a cargo e-bike for hauling all your stuff.
- While not the first city in the U.S. to provide an e-bike rebate, Denver’s is one of the best in the nation.
Starting today, buying an e-bike just got a whole lot more cost-effective for residents of Denver, Colorado.
The city recently announced the best city-wide tax rebate for e-bike buyers in the U.S.: A $400 rebate for regular e-bikes, and an additional $500 rebate for cargo e-bikes. Depending on their income level, some residents may qualify for an even higher rebate, up to $1,200. And even better: The rebate is instant, meaning you can apply before you buy and bring your voucher to one of the participating bike shops in the city.
The only downside to Denver’s rebate policy? That electric-assist full suspension mountain bike isn’t eligible for the rebate. So if you want to shred on trails, you’ll have to pay the full freight. And for cargo bikes to qualify for the full $900 rebate, they must have a total weight capacity (rider+bike+cargo) rating of at least 400 pounds: Just adding a big basket or a trailer doesn’t count.
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This new program, which goes into effect April 22, is part of Denver’s more extensive Climate Action Rebate Program, which offers rebates for environmentally friendly installs like solar panels or electric car chargers. As more and more people consider swapping their cars for e-bikes—or at least, swapping one of their cars for an e-bike—many cities around the U.S. are incentivizing people to make the swap. (As though the rising cost of gas wasn’t enough of a reason.)
If you’re a Denver resident who’s on the fence about whether an e-bike could truly replace your car, there’s good news. Denver is also home to an e-bike lending library, with 30 e-bikes available to borrow, thanks to local manufacturer FattE-Bikes. “We already have Denver residents coming in saying, ‘I’m getting rid of my car and want an e-bike instead,’” the brand Tweeted this week, showing that clearly, there’s plenty of interest in making the switch from gas- to pedal-powered.
Many cities have tax rebates for e-bike (and some standard bike) purchases, but as Harvard Kennedy School visiting fellow and expert on the intersection of tech, mobility, and city infrastructure David Zipper notes, Denver’s rebate is the largest available right now. If you don’t live in Denver, check out e-bike manufacturer Aventon’s complete list of programs available in cities around North America. Denver’s new rebate makes the city one of the best places to buy an e-bike, but Austin, Texas, offers a $300 rebate for e-bikes. Other states are working on more sweeping reform: The state of New York recently introduced a bill that would offer up to a 50 percent rebate on ebikes up to $1,500.
On a national level, there still isn’t a tax incentive for e-bike buyers, but that’s something that could be changing soon. In November, the Build Back Better Act was passed in Congress, including the E-BIKE Act, which would provide a 30 percent tax credit over five years for the purchase of an e-bike (in real dollar value, you’d get back up to $900). And that’s in addition to a monthly $8 pre-tax benefit for biking to work. The Act still has a long way to go before it’s made into law, but the fact that it’s gotten this far is cause for celebration.
