MINNESOTA, USA — The state of Minnesota is postponing the launch of its e-bike rebate program after the application site crashed for most users on its first day Wednesday.
In an emailed statement, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said the application site was "experiencing technical issues" and would not be available Wednesday. The state did not provide a new application date, but invited interested Minnesotans to sign up for email updates.
"We are working with our external technology vendors engaged for this program to understand and fix the technical issues on the site," the agency said.
The Dept. of Revenue apologized for the inconvenience people encountered when they tried to apply Wednesday. The agency is working with its vendor, Minnesota IT Services, to straighten out the issue.
The reboot date will be announced publicly, and via email to those who sign up to receive notifications. The agency said people will be notified well ahead of the actual reopening of the online application portal.
The State of Minnesota is offering rebates on e-bikes for customers who purchase and apply for the discount. Rebate applications were originally due to open Wednesday, with July 1 being the earliest date to purchase a discounted bike. The rebates will be worth 50-75% off with a maximum discount of $1,500 - all depending on the customer's income.
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.
The rebates are due to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Bill Findling, the owner of Watt Cycleworks in South Minneapolis, said many customers have been putting off buying an ebike until they find out if they can capture one of the rebates. He said the crash of the online application portal was no surprise, considering the state plans to accept 10,000 applications for a much smaller number of rebates.
"When you take the $2 million available and divide that by the maximum discount of $1,500, let's say, it's 1,333 people who will get the rebate. It's not a lot of people. There's roughly 100,000 to 150,000 eBikes sold in Minnesota in a year."
Findling said Minnesota bike shop owners weren't happy to see that the state's list of 190 qualified retailers included dealers in other states.
"We don't see how that helps Minnesota companies to let shops in Wisconsin and California take part in this. We're also wondering why the rebates start on July 1, which is the normally the middle of our busy season."
He can understand why the rebate program is popular, considering people can get a discount of up to $1,500 on bikes that range in price between $1,500 and $14,000.
The City of Hopkins offers ebike rebates to residents as part of its citywide rebate program. It's $500 for any participant, and up to $2,000 for people who qualify based on income.
Mayor Patrick Hanlon said it's part of that West Metro suburb's efforts to help people find new ways of getting around the city.
"We're growing pretty fast and gaining and growing in density and want to find ways to get people out of their cars to find other ways to get around," Hanlon explained.
"Ebikes are a great way to get people who don't bike a lot, to get them out of their cars."
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