Tasmania Becomes First Australian State to Subsidise E-Bike Purchases

Hobart

The Tasmanian Government has launched a rebate program for e-mobility devices. The program is a national first and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, particularly from daily commuting. The program is an initiative of Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25.

Rebates of 12 percent of the purchase price are available for e-bikes, e-cargo bikes, and personal mobility devices like e-scooters and e-skateboards (PMDs), up to a capped limit for each category of device. To ensure that these devices can be used for transport, rather than recreation, there will be some restrictions on what is eligible for a rebate.

The maximum rebates will be $500 for e-bikes and $1,000 for e-cargo bikes.

A total of $200,000 of subsidies is available in the program that has been announced, with no guarantee at this stage of future funding. This means that $1,666,666 of eligible purchases will receive the 12% subsidy. The subsidies will be broken down into four $50,000 funding rounds starting from November 2023 and ending February 2024.

The subsidy came into effect from 17th November 2023. Bike must be purchased from a Tasmanian-based retailer to be eligible.

You can see more details about the subsidy and all its rules and regulations here.

Editor’s comment:
E-bike subsidies have been growing in popularity overseas, particularly in Europe and North America. The typical experience there is that demand far outstrips supply so it will be interesting to monitor the uptake of the new Tasmanian scheme and hopefully it will be the first of many, both within Tasmania and throughout the rest of Australia.