Government grants currently offer e-car buyers a £5,000 rebate. Could same apply for two wheels?

E-bike grants to be settled in August 2014

The question of whether electric bike purchases should also benefit from the £5,000 grants being dished out to consumers buying e-cars is set to be resolved this August.

Outgoing BEBA chairman Mark Loveridge has been among those lobbying for the grants to apply to two-wheeled electric transport since the grants were announced in 2010. The government created the grants to spur the electric car market and meet its ambitions to have 1.7 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. The grants were this year extended to 2017.

Loveridge told BikeBiz that the potentially pivotal decision will be resolved in August. BEBA has been working with the Bicycle Association and the MCIA to lobby the government to widen the grant criteria, which is ‘considering’ the move.

The ongoing disparity between UK and EU legislation for electric bikes looks set to be resolved soon too. It is hoped that the matter will be finalised within ten months, BikeBiz has learnt.

In other news...

Schwalbe publishes its second CSR report with ‘ambitious’ future targets

Schwalbe has published its second CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) report, titled “Dedicated Recyclist”. The bicycle …