Technical problems cancel highly anticipated $2,000 e-bike voucher drawing

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Pink Aventon electric bicycle with cargo basket secured to a sidewalk rack, foregrounding a Muni bus on a city street, San Francisco, California, March 18, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Tuesday night's highly anticipated application sign-up for California's wildly popular electric bike voucher program was abruptly canceled due to technical issues, the program's website said.

Interest was high in those seeking to take advantage of the program, which offers up to $2,000 towards a new e-bike.

A spokesperson for the program said the issue is being investigated.

One-hour window

The sign-up, scheduled from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., was for eligible applicants to get their shot at one of roughly 1,000 vouchers as part of the California E-Bike Incentive Project.

Prospective applicants were instructed to join the online waiting room during the one-hour sign-up window for a random drawing to award the vouchers.

But on Tuesday evening, hopeful voucher recipients were met with this message: "Thank you for your interest in the California E-Bike Incentive Project. Unfortunately, the website experienced technical issues preventing all interested applicants from entering the queue. To ensure an equal opportunity to participate in the program, the application window was closed and will be rescheduled to a future date. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

One prospective applicant reached out to KTVU, saying he had waited an hour on the website when he received the message.

Bradley Branan of the California Air Resources Board said they attempted to troubleshoot in real time but that ultimately the decision was made to reschedule once it became clear that not everyone was able to access the waiting room. He said they are committed to providing equal access to this program.

What we don't know:

It's unclear if the high demand in sign-ups crashed the system or what type of technical issue led to the problem.

The rescheduled date is not yet known. It will be publicly announced once it's set.

The backstory:

When the program first launched back in December, the demand was so high that it took less than an hour for all 1,500 available voucher incentives to be swept up during that inaugural roll-out, which had a first-come, first-served selection process, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said.

The agency had made adjustments for this second round to make the drawing random once prospective applicants signed up in the waiting room.

The change was in an effort to provide fair distribution and equal access to applicants, program officials said.

Eligible e-bikes

Under the program, the vouchers would go toward new class 1-3 UL and/or EN-compliant electric bikes with a motor of less than or equal to 750 watts. The bikes must have operable pedals and have battery-integrated front lights.

Eligible e-bikes must also be fully assembled and have a minimum one-year manufacturer's warranty.

The vouchers can only be used at approved stores and online retailers.

Prices for e-bikes range from about $600 to around $4,000, according to Consumer Reports.

Other estimates put the average price at about $2,000.

Applicants must meet income and other eligibility requirements.

Only one incentive is available per person.

You can find more information on the program here.

KTVU will follow developments on when the application window will be rescheduled.

CARB had also confirmed there will be a third round of sign-ups, though the agency had not yet released a date.