Interestingly, the people pushing this the hardest are the ones who do not ride them
Democrats want to make electric bikes much cheaper by giving you up to $1,500 to buy one
Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill last week that would give Americans up to $1,500 off the purchase of an electric bicycle. The legislation, the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment (E-BIKE) Act, is a new version of a 2021 bill with the same name and offers a more generous tax credit to more Americans for a broader range of bikes.
The new and expanded legislation would give Americans who earn up to $150,000, or up to $300,000 for joint tax filers, a refundable tax credit of 30% off, up to $1,500. The credit applies to e-bikes that cost under $8,000.
Wait, how much? You could buy a nice scooter/moped for much less.
The new E-BIKE Act, which was introduced in both the House and Senate on March 21, is backed by a much larger set of environmental groups, and is sponsored by more lawmakers. Reps. Jimmy Panetta, Mike Thompson, and Adam Schiff of California, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, and Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii introduced the bill.
“Many people are looking to get out of their cars and get on to e-bikes not just for recreation, but also for transportation purposes,” Rep. Panetta said in a statement. “By incentivizing Americans to own and use e-bikes, we are allowing them the chance to help improve the quality of life in our communities and tackle the climate crisis in our country.”
They are? Then why do the bike ride-share businesses keep collapsing in big cities? In fairness, if I lived near the beach, I might consider one, though, I’d probably get a scooter, but, it wouldn’t be for replace my car, just for cruising up to the beach. Southern cities are not set up for biking as such. It would be good to reduce the use of private vehicles in big cities like D.C. and NYC.
While this year’s bill has more support both in and outside the halls of the Capitol, it will need Republican backing to pass the House, and it remains to be seen whether that will materialize.
I don’t see what it would hurt to vote for it, but, passing it will most likely cause the price of the ebikes to go up. And a bike that costs thousands of dollars is a perk for rich folks, not the working class and middle class.
E-bikes have increasingly been embraced by environmental advocates as the best alternative to cars and a key way to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. If people rode an e-bike instead of driving a car just 15% of the time, it would reduce emissions by 12%, a study found in 2020.
The general population hasn’t embraced them. Perhaps they should push them for health benefits, but, then, the same wackos also try to normalize obesity.
From what I read the E-Bikes have been having issues with fires due to batteries.
Problem is, as a tax credit, you only get it if you pay enough taxes to itemize deductions. If it was a direct purchase rebate, that would be another matter. You can get a really good ebike for around $1000. Check out the Lectric XP 3.0… I’ve been thinking about one for just local errands. Personally, I believe theft will be a bigger problem than exploding batteries.
One of the big traffic problems in Philadelphia and New York City are the bicyclists, both electric and human-powered, who create all sorts of havoc because so many of them do something really radical like obey traffic laws. Many near-accidents, and plenty of pedestrians hit.
Sure, if all those bike riders drive cars instead that will solve the traffic problems in Philly and NYC, LOL!
I’ve noticed a lot of those annoying bikers around here in suburban Detroit. I call them Lance Armstrong wannabes. They cruise around in packs wearing their cycling gear and don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the rules of the road. Not that I’m perfect, but at my age I’m puffing along at a crawl when I roll through a stop sign and have plenty of time to stop if needed.
no you don’t. I bought an electric bike. I would ride it for 30 minutes and it took 3 weeks to recover from the ergonomics of the bike.
The pedals forced you to lean forwars, were improperly sized. The adjustable seat kept collapsing forcing me to feel like I was peddling a tricycle. The controls were flimsy and the first spill onto the ground broke nearly every control on the handlebars.
The battery cannot be stored in cold weather. It has to be brought inside during winter times or will irrevocably DIE permanently.
The range is 20-30 miles and then needs an 8 hour charge. The paint peeled in several places and their was nothing to absorb shocks in the road.
In short the electric bike was a joke of the upteenth proportion. Additionally IF you want a bike that is comfortable to spend a lot of time on either be realy, realy young OR spend 5-10 thousand dollars for an electric bike with the design characteristics that make you want to ride said bike.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON A CHEAP ELECTRIC BIKE. The company will CLAIM they are USA but the bike is shipped direct from CHINA marked in big letters all over the mostly destroyed packaging.
You get what you pay for. buy a cheap electric bike you will regret it. Buy and expensive one and you might as well buy a scooter or honda 150 etc, that will actually get you 200 miles down the road on fossil fuels.
NOW…having said all that….what this stupid, poorly managed website eat this post never to be heard from again. This is why you rarely see me posting here any longer. Tired of pontificating my views only to be speaking to the FBI or CIA who is probably now running this site.
I WILL NOT POST WITHOUT A VPN….So this site can go fuk itself. Tired of every post I make getting eaten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will be missed.