On July 14, 21, the governor of California approved the allocation of 10 million dollars for the electric bicycle incentive plan. This year, the specific allocation of this fund was finally confirmed and will be formally implemented in early 2023.
According to American media and Streetsblog, California has allocated more than 1 billion dollars this year for the laying of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Before that, billions of dollars were spent on subsidies to promote the popularization and incentive consumption of electric vehicles. The state government is actively taking measures to deal with climate change and promote environmental protection measures, but has not included electric bicycles in the scope of subsidies before, and has only introduced subsidies for electric bicycles under the active suggestions of legislators and the public.
However, there are conditions for applying for this subsidy.
According to the California Bicycle Association, the government will provide $750 vouchers for people who buy electric bikes and $1500 vouchers for people who buy freight electric bikes. In addition, the single person with an annual income of less than US $51000 and the family with an income of less than US $106000 will receive additional subsidies.
The subsidy plan includes Class 1 electric bicycles and Class 2 electric bicycles, i.e. vehicles with a speed of less than 32km/h, but does not include Class 3 electric bicycles.
In addition, the government requires that vehicles must be purchased at a local bicycle store in California, or purchased online by a company with a business location in California, otherwise they will not enjoy this privilege.
According to statistics, Californians mainly use cars for short distance travel, of which 60% travel distance is less than 10km. Short distance transportation is the most important daily travel demand. Whether using fuel vehicles or electric vehicles will undoubtedly cause waste of resources. In addition, electric bicycles are more convenient to use, and more suitable for people’s daily travel.
