EDITORIAL – New rebate for e-bike purchases is both generous and illogical
(Image: e-bikeBC)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
E-BIKE RIDERS get a nice break from the provincial government as of today. Depending on their income, they can receive a rebate on the cost of a new electric bike.
It’s a generous gesture for those thinking about getting in on this active-transportation fad. Those with a net income of $51,131 and more are eligible to receive $350. Anyone who makes $38,951 or up to that higher amount can collect $1,000. And people who make less can get a cool $1,400.
The bike has to cost at least $2,000 and you have to be at least 19 years old.
The rationale for the rebates, says the government, is that e-bikes “provide greater speed, convenience, and accessibility than non-assisted pedal bikes.”
I was amused by an assurance that we don’t need to provide a car to the scrap-it program in order to qualify but, in fact, e-bike enthusiasts were, indeed, previously eligible for a rebate if they did scrap a car.
The logic for this new program, however, escapes me, and here’s why. Let’s compare it to the trend toward electric vehicles, or EVs.
Reasons for switching from fossil fuel vehicles are clear. We’re trying to save the planet by ditching the gas guzzlers for a means of transportation that doesn’t pollute. Not to mention that we’ll eventually run out of oil and have to change anyway.
Certainly, electric transportation isn’t a perfect alternative but until we develop something better it’s not a bad option.
The alternative to e-bikes, on the other hand, is the good old-fashioned pedal bike, which burns no energy at all other than what we put into it with our own two legs. E-bikes aren’t purchased to be Earth-friendly, they’re purchased to make it easier to get up hills.
Which is fine, but pedal cyclists are the ones converting to e-bikes, not drivers of fossil-fuel vehicles. They don’t deserve to be compensated for it.
This rebate simply is not logical.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Have to respectfully disagree with you on this one Mel.
E-bikes allow cyclists to go through more difficult terrain, yes. They also allow us to go farther through varied terrain. What this means, is that distances for commutes that were not possible for someone before, especially in hilly Kamloops, become possible. It also means that persons who are differently-abled and of different fitness levels now have the distances and types of trips that they can make by bike expanded. This is why, I suspect, the BC gov has included them in its rebate plan and rightly so. Even with the program, someone on limited income may find it difficult to afford one but it helps make it possible and that allows them to make fewer trips by car or taxi and gives them more mobility freedom and exercise. This is a good thing.
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With respect to carbon emissions some of the assumptions in your article are not correct. Taking into account the energy to manufacture and the average lifespan of ebikes (with batteries), regular bikes, shoes and the calories needed to use them, the hierarchy of emissions falls out a bit counterintuitively. Walking is actually energy inefficient and requires more calories (and thus more emissions) per kilometer than cycling (ignoring the health benefits of walking). Ranking are actually:
-Gas powered car: 200 (long trip)-266 (short trip) grams CO2 per person per kilometre (eppkm)
-Bus: 101 grams eppkm
-Electric vehicle: 90 grams eppkm
-Walking: 56 grams eppkm
-Regular bike: 21 grams eppkm
-eBike: 14.8 eppkm
Even lower are the emissions from eScooters but I can’t seem to find those values at hand.
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That the pedal bike rider will be the one converting to e-bike is somewhat incorrect.
But yes an e-bike is an oxymoron of sorts. It is basically another object of consumerism (with some exceptions) taking up space in the garage and not truly (again with some exemptions) a conscientious effort not only to decrease energy consumption but overall environmental impact.
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The issue is very simple…do we subsidiz the purchase of an E-bike for those who are young and perfectly capable of riding a regular bike or do we give the subsidy to those who have health issues and can’t ride regular bikes? Why would you give the subsidy who is under 40 and has no health issues? I see so many bike riders from teenagers to adults under 40 riding E-bikes. And people wonder why we have an obesity problem in Canada. Bike riders under the age of 40 should not qualify unless they have a Doctor’s note stating what health issues they have.People like me over the age of 70 and seriously health issues and living on a low income should be should qualify.
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The goal of this and every push towards active transportation is to reduce the use of vehicles that use fossil fuels, reducing GHGs, and secondarily to reduce all vehicle use to reduce congestion. In Kamloops most people won’t be getting rid of their car anytime soon, but with an e-bike which is much faster and at times less effort than a conventional bike, its more likely the car will sit in the driveway. I doubt there’s a person on the planet who has tried an e-bike and didn’t have a huge grin on their face, so much fun. Give one a try!
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No, this rebate is very logical, especially in a place like Kamloops which has hills. There are people who bike (like myself) but if I’m on an errand downtown and the faced with cycling up the hill on Columbia, I will drive. An e-bike will make this trip possible completely by bike. It will be possible for people who live in Aberdeen to commute by e-bike.
The problem that remains is to build good bike paths. Once you have that, you’re going to see a lot more people using e-bikes.
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