Response to CARB on Ending the E-Bike Incentive Project
CARB’s decision to absorb the remaining funding from the E-Bike Incentive Project into Clean Cars 4 All is a telling political moment—one that mistakes “cleaner cars” for genuine progress. It’s easier to imagine replacing every gas car with an electric one than to imagine a California where people can move freely without cars at all. But the latter is what true climate leadership requires. The E-Bike Incentive Project wasn’t flawless, but it represented a rare, tangible step toward that future: a policy backed by funding that helped Californians drive less, not just differently. Reversing it is a step backward for the state and a disservice to the people who believed in it.
Requiring a car trade-in shifts the focus from helping people get around to helping them replace a vehicle. That’s the quiet but crucial difference between mobility and motors, between freedom and another form of dependency. Households across California were ready to drop a car, saving thousands every year on insurance, maintenance, and gas – money that could instead go to rent, childcare, or education. A project meant to deliver on climate goals, traffic reduction, and helping families balance checkbooks all at once.
The state is taking the wrong lessons from the turbulence of the EBIP roll out; the overwhelming demand makes clear this is a popular program that people want. Tens of thousands of Californians lined up for each round of the e-bike incentives, waiting hours online for a chance at a modest voucher. Their wants and needs are clear and simple – a new, affordable, economical way to get to work, to school, to the grocery store without being locked into the cost and burden of car ownership.
Ending that opportunity now ignores that clear demand and walks back hard-won progress toward a more livable, affordable, and sustainable California.
