The latest round of e-bike rebates ran out fast again

Blink and you’ll miss it.
2 min. read
Stephanie Vail and Pete Winterscheidt wheel their electric bicycles to the front yard of their Sloan’s Lake home in Denver on Sunday, May 15, 2022.
Nathaniel Minor/CPR News

Denver once again ran out of e-bike vouchers Tuesday, in yet another round of the highly popular program aimed at reducing car emissions.

The past two rounds saw the city run out vouchers in 10 minutes. This time there were around twice as many rebates - 860 in total - which lasted 20 minutes, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

While past vouchers gave out $400 to $500, that value dropped to $300 to $200 to reflect dropping e-bike prices. People who make less than 80% of Denver's area median income - or under $62,000 - as well as people enrolled in a range of assistance programs can qualify for a $1,200 rebate directed toward lower-income residents.

Loren Hansen successfully scooped up a voucher, though his page timed out a few times before he got through.

"Trying to get people out of single occupancy vehicles... it's fantastic," Hansen said.

City spokesperson Chelsea Warren said the vendor had to double the number of servers to handle high traffic to the site, which could have caused delays.

"Interest remains extremely high for this program and we expect the rest of the year's rebates to be claimed quickly once they are released," Warren said.

For those who missed out, future chances will come on March 28, May 30, July 25, Sept. 26 and Nov. 28.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify requirements for low income rebates.

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