ST PAUL, Minn. — That didn't take long. The state of Minnesota said the portal for its e-bike rebate program was shut down in just 18 minutes Tuesday morning after more than 14,000 people applied to take part.
The computer crush was part of a relaunch that came nearly one month after the application portal crashed under heavy pressure from consumers. On a web page explaining the e-bike rebate program, the Department of Revenue and Minnesota IT services said the process would be shut down after around 10,000 state residents filled out applications to receive a rebate of up to $1,500 on a qualifying e-bike, with a discount of 50-75% depending on the buyer's qualifying expenses.
According to the state's website, those with an adjusted gross income of less than $29,001 have the potential for a 75% rebate. State residents with an adjusted gross income of more than $125,000 can claim a 50% rebate if approved.
Total rebates will be limited to $2 million each year in 2024 and 2025.
The application portal crashed on June 5 shortly after opening for business under a crush of users who attempted to enter. On a new page, the Minnesota Department of Revenue and Minnesota IT Services said due to the popularity of the program and anticipated demand, applicants might have to sit in a virtual waiting room before being allowed to access the application process.
Once allowed to access the portal, users had 15 minutes to complete the application process.
News that applicants filled up in less than a half hour did not sit well with those left on the outside looking in. A landslide of social media posts expressed anger and suspicion of the process. "Absolute joke," said a user named Josh on X. "Almost worse than the 1st go around. Here's the slightest glimmer of hope and then boom, done. Sorry."
"This was a huge bummer," posted Josiah Rice. "Not the fault of the IT team that made it happen but the directive that it must be first come first serve and such low funding available it was designed to be a Ticketmaster scenario from the start. I tried so hard and didn’t even get close. It sucks."
"Clearly something is still amiss in the application," said resident Linda Kleinbaum. "My waiting time remaining was 13 minutes. Suddenly, it was updated to 'more than an hour.' Then advised application portal was closed. How did I get kicked to the end of the line? Disappointed and disgruntled MN resident."
Now that a pool of around 10,000 applications has been accepted, the state will review them in the order in which they were filed and respond to each applicant by July 9. Applicants will either be approved, asked to provide additional information, be added to a waitlist or denied participation in the rebate program.
Program administrations expect to award about 1,300 rebates of various amounts.
Those who were unable to fill out applications can try again next year, when another $2 million in e-bike rebates will be awarded.
For more information on the e-bike rebate program or the application process, check out the Department of Revenue website.
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