Oregon E-Bike Rebate

Powering up Communities, Protecting our Planet

What is the Oregon E-Bike Rebate?

🚲⚡️ HB 2571 allocates $6M of general fund to provide a $400 purchase incentive on an electric bicycle with a minimum purchase price of $950 and an additional $800 incentive for individuals from income-qualifying households, less $200 of thee. purchase price of the bicycle. $2M is reserved for income-qualified incentives. The bicycle must be purchased from a DEQ pre-approved Oregon bicycle retailer and remain in the purchaser's possession for at least 12 months.

In total, this bill would provide funding for at least 6,600 Oregonians to purchase an e-bike.

💸 Dollar-for-dollar, electric bike incentives are more cost effective at reducing transportation GHG emissions than other EV incentives (https://ggwash.org/view/88025/analysis-e-bike-subsidies-are-more-cost-effective-than-ev-subsidies). Bicycles add secondary benefits to individual daily activities in the realm of physical and mental health. Oregon is in the midst of a mental health crisis in all sectors of our community and this incentive can be a tiny part of our current state efforts to address this. E-bike riding is just plain fun and this is an important part of the appeal of this transportation mode.

🚗🤦‍♀️ According to the US Department of Energy, the average vehicle trip distance in the US in 2017 was less than 10 miles (https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10317) and over half of trips were 4 miles or less (https://nhts.ornl.gov/vehicle-trips). Disproportionally those trips fall to women in an infrastructure that is designed around male commute patterns. The cost burden in either transit time or car purchase time on these household members can be mitigate by the purchase of a small personal vehicle capable of carrying household goods and multiple people: an electric bicycle. Studies have shown (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102482) that the addition of an e-bike into a household reduces their VMT by 30%: these ‘errands’ are the trips that are being replaced.