California's e-bike program to give away more $2K vouchers, in a ‘revamped’ process

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 29: A cyclist rides an e-bike on Market Street on July 29, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Next week, residents will have another shot at receiving up to $2,000 toward a new electric bicycle under a wildly popular state program that ended up abruptly shutting down and canceling its last sign-up session amid extreme demand.

What we know:

The California E-Bike Incentive Project has rescheduled its second application window for May 29 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

During that one-hour session, prospective applicants will be placed in a virtual waiting room. Once that window closes, those in the waiting room will be randomly placed in a queue.

"This round will offer $2 million or approximately 1,000 vouchers to eligible applicants who will be selected at random to help ensure a fair distribution of vouchers," the California Air Resources Board (CARB) wrote in a news release this week providing details about the next application opportunity.

Technical problem last session

CARB officials provided details on what led to the shut-down of the last application session on April 29.

"The program’s website experienced a high volume of traffic and detected suspicious activity," the agency said. "As a result, automatic security measures were activated and the website, operated and controlled by CARB’s third-party program administrator, Pedal Ahead, was temporarily unavailable," the agency explained.

CARB said that the outage was temporary, and the website quickly recovered, but it decided to shut down and reschedule in an effort to ensure that all interested parties had equal access.

CARB said it has made changes to the program to avoid such service disruptions and promised a "revamped" roll out of the next sign-up.

The agency said the program has brought on two new industry-leading firms, Akamai Technologies and Queue-it, to manage the application site’s traffic and oversee the virtual waiting room.

To take advantage of the sign-up process, program officials strongly encouraged prospective applicants to review the process in advance.

The rules

Eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old and meet income requirements.

The income limits vary depending on household size. For a household of one, the limit is $45,180, while a household of four has a limit of $93,600.

"A portion of the incentives are set aside for priority applicants of a defined income range or that reside in a low-income/disadvantaged community," the program noted.

Applicants will undergo an approval process to make sure they meet eligibility requirements.

Once approved, income-eligible individuals can redeem the voucher at approved retailers for an approved e-bike at the point of purchase.

Officials stressed that participants must receive their incentive voucher prior to purchasing their e-bike.

"Purchases made before receiving these will not be eligible for the incentive," the program explained.

The e-bike must be class 1, 2, or 3, and meet other requirements.

Applicants must also watch rider safety videos before collecting their voucher.

Only one incentive is available per individual.

Dig deeper:

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

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

Preparing for the application

Ahead of the sign-up, organizers advised prospective applicants to gather all the required information, including a photo of a valid driver’s license or state identification card to upload, as well as their most recent federal tax return transcripts or other income status documents.

The backstory:

CARB said it has approved 1,022 vouchers totaling more than $2 million to date.

The agency noted that roughly 90% of those vouchers have been redeemed.

The program first launched back in December, when it saw upwards of 100,000 people in its queue for that first round of applications.

The California Legislature appropriated funding for the E-Bike Incentive Project.

The program seeks to expand and promote zero-emissions transportation options in the state, keeping in mind "residents who need the boost the most," officials with CARB said.

The project is being launched in partnership with more than 20 community-based groups, which will conduct outreach and provide application assistance, according to the agency.

The program has been designed to ensure low-income residents are not left behind as California advances toward a zero-emissions future, officials said.

A third round?

The funding for the current grant is expected to be used up by this fall, CARB officials said. But the agency plans to continue the voucher program and said it would seek proposals for its next funding grant later this year.

So those who don’t win an e-bike voucher next Thursday, might get yet another opportunity next year.

"A third round of e-bike vouchers," CARB said, "is expected to be awarded in 2026."