A NEW e-bike grant scheme has been launched in the first of a series of government measures designed to significantly reduce Jersey’s carbon emissions.
Islanders now have a week to apply for the first wave of vouchers – £300 for an e-bike, £600 for an e-cargo bike or £600 for an adapted e-cycle – with 100 applicants due to be chosen at random.
Further application windows are to be scheduled every three months, staggered across the next two years, to help local retailers cope with demand. Most e-bikes cost around £2,000, with some retailing for as much as £6,000.
Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune said officers estimated the scheme would remove the annual equivalent of nearly 500 tonnes, the carbon emissions of 133 people.
The move – which aims to help Islanders to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles – forms part of the Carbon Neutral Roadmap, which was approved by the States Assembly last year.
The document outlined an initial four-year £23 million delivery plan to help Jersey reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, meaning the Island’s greenhouse-gas emissions would be as close to zero as possible, with the remainder balanced out by the amount re-absorbed from the atmosphere.
A £300,000 pot for the e-bike grant scheme has been allocated under the Carbon Neutral Roadmap, with other plans including banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and small vans in 2030 and stopping the installation of new oil, gas and coal boilers from 2026.
It is not the first time the government has introduced an e-bike grant scheme, with similar initiatives having been run in 2016 and 2019.
Deputy Jeune said: ‘We are doing it this way because we want to help nudge people into buying electric bikes – whether its cargo bikes, adapted bikes or normal e-bikes – because they were already thinking about buying but cost was the barrier.
‘If it was means-tested [instead of random], then we would probably have to upfront the whole cost of the bike, which would mean the money would go to a smaller amount of people. The idea behind this is to reduce carbon emissions, encourage active travel and a change of use of vehicles. That’s our main aim with this.’
Applicants will be able to select whether they want to go into the draw for an e-bike, e-cargo bike or an adapted e-cycle.
Commenting on the potential risk of grant recipients selling the bikes on for a profit, Deputy Jeune said: ‘Of course we would prefer that they utilise the bike and not sell it on, but to generate a second-hand market in [e-bikes] will also be useful in future to those who, at the moment, are unable to meet the cost of buying an e-bike, even with 10% off.’
She said that the staggered launch would help vendors to cope with demand.
‘When we were developing this scheme we worked closely with the bike shops to ensure they felt confident that they could also deliver.’
Islanders can apply for a grant at gov.je/ebike.
E-BIKES
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Depending on the make and wattage, most e-bikes cost anywhere between £2,000 and £6,000.
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E-cargo bikes are electric bikes with a large storage area, while adapted e-cycles are designed for people with disabilities and can have more than two wheels.
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Vendors working with the scheme are The Cog and Sprocket, The Powerhouse, Coop Bikes, Mark Pickford’s Cycle Shop, Fortuna Euronics, Pedal Power, Aaron’s Bikes, Evolution Cycles, Bicycle Workshop and Big Maggy’s.
