Are good times just around the corner? It seems they may be!

[Wisper Bikes]

Bike Biz News Flash

Transport minister Jesse Norman has told The Guardian that e-bike subsidy could happen.

This would bring e-bikes in line with electric cars and grants which can be purchased with grants of £4,500 per vehicle. "Low-emission vehicles" are eligible for this government "plug-in grant" but despite requests from the likes of the Bicycle Association the scheme has yet to be extended to e-bikes.

Norman said : “We’ve done some work on [an e-bike grant] already, and I haven’t looked at the outcomes yet, and they might not be ready yet."

But, he added, "there’s a case in principle.”

I'm not going to hold my breath, but does this mean that you could buy our new Wisper Wildcat Carbon for £299?!

 

[Gubbins]

Won't do a lot for second hand values tho..

 

[flecc]

A big subsidy on all those e-bikes bought for leisure use?

It could bring cheap electric jet skis a bit closer!

They'd be a handy sideline for e-bike suppliers.
.

 

[mike killay]

A big subsidy on all those e-bikes bought for leisure use?

It could bring cheap electric jet skis a bit closer!

They'd be a handy sideline for e-bike suppliers.
.

What about electric false teeth?
I get so worn out chewing tough steaks.

 

[Nealh]

Bike Biz News Flash
Bicycle Association the scheme has yet to be extended to e-bikes.

Norman said : “We’ve done some work on [an e-bike grant] already, and I haven’t looked at the outcomes yet, and they might not be ready yet."

But, he added, "there’s a case in principle.”

I'm not going to hold my breath, but does this mean that you could buy our new Wisper Wildcat Carbon for £299?!

Wishful thinking David !!! I could get a top notch R & M twin battery Delitte for fraction of the overall cost.

 

[Benjahmin]

But subsidies don't work. An example.
When I had my solarpanels installed, the subsidised feed in tarrif payement rate was around 42pence per unit. I had a 1.75Kw array installed (small roof). 6 months later, when tarrif had halved, my neighbour had a full 4Kw array installed costing the same as my smaller one. When the subsidy started to go it was amazing to see how much prices, to the end user, tumbled.
Whenever a government starts throwing other peoples money around, people, unsurprisingly, find ways to get their hands on it.

 

[Nealh]

Having thought a bit more the likely hood of a large 4.5k subsidy would kill off a lot of bike sellers/brands in the sub 1.5k banding as buyers would ultimately plump for the high end expensive models. Players like Kudos, Woosh and Wisper just to name three on the forum would suffer terribly and probably would disappear when the market for lower cost bikes crashes.

Any subsidy on an e-bike irrelevant of cost will quite likely be meagre and only set at about £200 - 500 or at a % of the bikes overall value, all ready there is the bike to work schemes which allows 30/40% tax sacrifice saving bit not many really taking advantage of this including me.
I expect a lot of people might be interested of an up front subsidy discount of a new e-bike rather then a weekly/monthly drip feed by salary sacrifice which isn't very appealing as an instant subsidy.

 

[cycling weakly]

What about electric false teeth?
I get so worn out chewing tough steaks.

With the money you'll save on a new bike you'll be able to buy tender steaks.

Steve

 

[Woosh]

Having thought a bit more the likely hood of a large 4.5k subsidy would kill off a lot of bike sellers/brands in the sub 1.5k banding as buyers would ultimately plump for the high end expensive models. Players like Kudos, Woosh and Wisper just to name three on the forum would suffer terribly and probably would disappear when the market for lower cost bikes crashes.

Any subsidy on an e-bike irrelevant of cost will quite likely be meagre and only set at about £200 - 500 or at a % of the bikes overall value, all ready there is the bike to work schemes which allows 30/40% tax sacrifice saving bit not many really taking advantage of this including me.
I expect a lot of people might be interested of an up front subsidy discount of a new e-bike rather then a weekly/monthly drip feed by salary sacrifice which isn't very appealing as an instant subsidy.

I think the subsidy would be limited to the amount of VAT paid to the government, up to a limit of about £200. It's 200 Euros in France for example.
This means that a lot of people would want to buy £1,000 bikes to maximize the saving.

 

[flecc]

I can't see a subsidy for pedelecs happening, once the government examine the situation.

The main reason for the subsidy on e-cars is to avoid the harm done by ic engine emissions, this to help meet international anti-pollution requirements. So it doesn't matter whether an e-car is used for commuting or just private and leisure, the benefit still exists.

But the converse for e-biking is normal cycling, which does no social harm and is even more beneficial to society than e-biking, which introduces more pollutants and waste. The only benefit of a pedelec subsidy is a possible increase in cycle commuting, but realistically that would be small. A high proportion of the subsidy benefit would be enjoyed by those who buy for leisure riding so minimal "bang for bucks" in government terms.

And "bang for bucks" is what the government judge by, hence the halving of the e-subsidy on hybrids which give far less benefit than full e-cars.
.

 

[gray198]

I can't see a subsidy for pedelecs happening, once the government examine the situation.

The main reason for the subsidy on e-cars is to avoid the harm done by ic engine emissions, this to help meet international anti-pollution requirements. So it doesn't matter whether an e-car is used for commuting or just private and leisure, the benefit still exists.

But the converse for e-biking is normal cycling, which does no social harm and is even more beneficial to society than e-biking, which introduces more pollutants and waste. The only benefit of a pedelec subsidy is a possible increase in cycle commuting, but realistically that would be small. A high proportion of the subsidy benefit would be enjoyed by those who buy for leisure riding so minimal "bang for bucks" in government terms.

And "bang for bucks" is what the government judge by, hence the halving of the e-subsidy on hybrids which give far less benefit than full e-cars.
.

As I read it the main focus is to get more people out of cars and maybe this will help

 

[Nealh]

A high subsidy for e- bike purchase would only work if peeps ditch the car and used e -bikes for more chores and shorter 5/10 mile commutes but the appeal would wain very quickly with weather conditions and the lack of any real decent hard surface cycling infrastructure to keep cyclists safer on busy roads or off road.
Any such routes near me suffer from very poor/uneven surfaces and a couple of old railway routes that aren't very suitable for most. To have nice dedicated tarmac smooth cycle routes would be heaven compared to the shite we have to put up with.
A 5 miles section of the 21 to Brighton route near to me starts on road with green paint, then goes on to a path before returning to road green paint. After this goes through a large local amenity park/golf course and forestry land in undulating very rough terrain some loose pack, some hardish pack and then sandy loam base ok in the dry other wise very messy and un-nerving for the wary.
The next 5 miles are all on busy old A23 route to other side of Handcross before joining proper the slightly safer 21 south.

 

[flecc]

As I read it the main focus is to get more people out of cars and maybe this will help

Which is essentially the same thing as the commuting I mentioned as only likely to have a small gain.

Bikes aren't the answer to much other car use, such as running the kids around to schools, friends and functions, longer journeys to relatives and friends, carrying recycling stuff to the council depots.

Yes, we enthusiasts know such things can often be done using bikes, but Joe Public isn't going to do those so won't even consider bikes replacing cars.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The Basque Country has wonderful cycling infrastructure in its towns and cities. The thing is that when Franco and company built the towns to handle the massive migration from the countryside they didn't plan in the private ownership of a car, people were so poor, so there is very little parking space in towns. The public parking space there is is thus very expensive so many people use bikes in town.

Paris is eliminating the car, Nantes was when I was living there and now has a world class cycling infrastructure. You need brave politicians making bold moves to encourage use of bikes by removing the car from city centers by force. Infrastructure is probably more important than e-bike subsidies.

 

[mike killay]

Infrastructure is probably more important than e-bike subsidies.

True

 

[mike killay]

Take today for instance, I wanted to see the huge waves, so a ride that I would normally make on my bike, I made by car.
At Mumbles, the wind was incredibly fierce and I got nearly blown off my feet, some people were.
But I got back into my car, a haven of peace and quiet.

 

[flecc]

Paris is eliminating the car, Nantes was when I was living there and now has a world class cycling infrastructure. You need brave politicians making bold moves to encourage use of bikes by removing the car from city centers by force.

As has often been remarked, Britain is more inclined to follow the USA than Europe, and nowhere is that more true than in the love of cars. In this politician context, as in the program "Yes Minister", brave equals suicidal.

And not everyone can cycle so the provision of good public transport is essential, but here we fail again. In large parts of the UK public transport is wholely inadequate, not even beginning to meet essential needs. To correct this means political change and a swing to Left policies, since the privatisation favoured by Tory and Blairite Labour has been instrumental in wrecking our public transport infrastructure.
.

 

[Benjahmin]

. Infrastructure is probably more important than e-bike subsidies.

Totally agree.
AK for primeminister !

Seems to me that the situation in this country stems from the time of Ernie Marples. 60's transport minister (who was in the pocket of the motor industry) and his buddy Beeching. It's gonna take a long time to alter the car centric thinking here. Meanwhile we have to put up with bits of paint on the road and 'cyclists dismount here' signs.
Is it any wonder I don't want to pay my taxes?

 

[flecc]

Totally agree.
AK for primeminister !

Seems to me that the situation in this country stems from the time of Ernie Marples. 60's transport minister (who was in the pocket of the motor industry) and his buddy Beeching. It's gonna take a long time to alter the car centric thinking here. Meanwhile we have to put up with bits of paint on the road and 'cyclists dismount here' signs.
Is it any wonder I don't want to pay my taxes?

I agree with most but wouldn't put Beeching with Marples. Beeching had no room to manouvre, this was Prime Minister Harold Wilson's instruction:

In particular, the railway system must be modelled to meet current needs, and the modernisation plan must be adapted to this new shape and with the premise that the railways should be run as a profitable business.

That meant chopping all the little used and loss making lines, regarded as not "current needs", whatever that meant. If it made a loss it had to go, and the blame for that was not Beeching's but Harold Wilson's. No-one's railways run at a profit, they are state essentials, and Wilson should have known and recognised that.
.

 

[Gubbins]

Subsidising ebikes is one thing but while we are discussing it what about compulsory helmet and hi vis clothing?
Whilst I do have an issue with the being forced to do things scenario it would be almost worth it to the licra lads all in high vis.
http://road.cc/content/news/231057-e-bikes-could-be-subsidised-and-helmets-compulsory-under-new-government-plans