E-bikes added to green living rebates on offer

Holdfast Bay has become the first council on mainland Australia to offer rebates for e-bikes and cargo bikes.

A rebate of $300 can now be claimed on electric cargo bikes - as well as $200 for regular e-bikes – and Seacliff resident Meggie Presti couldn’t be happier.

She’s been an avid cargo bike rider for the past four years – initially in the US before moving to Adelaide last year – and uses her bike daily, often with her three children also on board.

She hopes that now there’s a rebate in place, more people in Holdfast Bay will consider adopting a car-free lifestyle.

“It is my car, all the time, for everything,” said Meggie.

“And I know of two other families who have bought one since they’ve seen mine, so it spread and hopefully the subsidy will help it spread faster.

“It’s not that people don’t use them because they don’t want them, people don’t use them because they don’t know that it’s an option.”

Meggie’s cargo bike is a trike-model with a basket in the front and it fits all three of her children – aged 3-8, their backpacks and the family’s groceries.

The e-bike runs off a battery, but pedalling is still required, and Meggie recharges the battery during the day, using power generated from the solar panels on the family’s home.

“I have to charge (the battery) every day to every other day depending on how far we’re going, but it’s super easy,” she said.

Council offers Green Living Rebates on more than a dozen items that can assist our community to live a greener, healthier lifestyle, from energy-efficient electrical appliances to worm farms, double glazing on windows and modern cloth nappies.

Cargo bikes and e-bikes has recently been added to the list following a move in 2023 by the Tasmanian government which introduced subsidies for e-bikes.

"A big reason I e-bike is the sustainability angle," said Meggie who averages 10-15 kilometres each day between the school run, after-school activities and local errands.

"In a standard combustion engine vehicle, this would contribute to around 1000kg (a metric tonne) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. It is estimated that an e-bike on the same journey would contribute to about 35kg of C02 per year. That's an enormous difference."

Meggie says if just 5% of people in Adelaide switched to active transport for local trips, that would result in the elimination of 50,000 metric tonnes of C02 per year.

"Another way of thinking about this is it would require each local driver to plant 48 mature trees to offset their carbon emissions. If 5% of local drivers planted 48 trees, it would require almost the entire Adelaide CBD to accommodate the forest," Meggie explained.

"Since I do not have the acreage, time or resources to plant and care for 48 trees, I've just switched to using an e-bike."

While funds last, households and businesses can receive one rebate per financial year on one of the items on the Green Living Rebates list.