Denver gave out huge rebates on electric bikes. Now it’s making the bike lanes they need
Denver grabbed headlines earlier this year when it launched an ambitious program to help city residents replace cars with e-bikes. Now the city is struggling to ensure it can provide sufficient cycling infrastructure to support the influx of electric bikes.
The program initially offered generous rebates from $400 to $900 off the price of a new e-bike depending on the style of bike, with cargo e-bikes receiving higher incentives.
Low-income city residents were offered even higher incentives of $1,200 toward the price of an electric bike.
Unlike mail-in rebates or e-bike tax credits, Denver’s program used point-of-sale rebates that were applied instantly, making it easier for new riders to afford what can often be expensive electric bikes.
The goal of the program was to help get more of these car-replacing electric bikes out onto Denver’s streets to cut down on traffic and reduce emission-spewing vehicle use.
Nearly 5,000 electric bikes have been purchased as part of the program, with around half of those e-bikes going to low-income riders.
It’s been widely praised as a successful model for increasing the adoption rate of low-impact alternative vehicles. But it’s also shined a light on another issue surrounding personal EVs like e-bikes and e-scooters: that they require investment in infrastructure to make riders feel safe using them.
E-bikes can usually travel at speeds of 20-28 mph (32-45 km/h), which makes them better able to keep up with cars.
But not all riders want to mix it up with traffic in the roadways. Bike lanes help encourage commuters to use bikes, scooters, skateboards, and other light vehicles by providing a safer environment away from the heavy machinery regularly used by car drivers.
Denver poured millions of dollars into its e-bike rebate program, successfully putting thousands of new e-bikes on the road. Now the city is working on building enough bike lanes to help those riders feel safe and protected while using their new wheels.
The city already had nearly 200 miles of bike lanes when Mayor Michael Hancock outlined a plan to install another 125 miles of bike lanes in 2018. Denver is now nearing completion of that pledge with over 300 miles of bike lanes spread across the city.
The problem is that not all bike lanes are created equal. Some keep riders safer than others.
Much of the current cycling infrastructure is classified as “unprotected” bike lanes, which are usually just a painted line designated the road shoulder for bike. Several dozen miles of the city’s bike lanes have been installed with physical barriers such as poles and other devices separating bikes from the main traffic lanes of major roads and creating protected bike lanes.
While unprotected bike lanes are a step in the right direction by demarcating part of the road for bikes only, many riders including Denver Bicycle Lobby member David Mintzer feel they don’t go far enough. As he explained to The Denver Post:
“My biggest issue with the 125 miles of bikeways that the city is touting is that most of them are unprotected and they’re still having bicycles mix with traffic. As they stand now, they are not comfortable for new riders.”
Many locals agree and have been pushing the city to install more protected bike lanes, with the e-bike rebates creating a renewed push for improved cycling infrastructure.
The city seems to be taking notice.
According to City councilman Chris Hinds:
“We are in some ways a victim of our own success in our bike infrastructure. We wouldn’t have had these questions if not for the e-bike rebate program that has put a lot of e-bikes in our bikeways. It is time to take a look at that infrastructure.”
Electrek’s Take
I actually see this as a good thing. Sure, we all want cities to proactively install proper cycling infrastructure. But without a mass of riders to demonstrate the need, it can be hard to make the case in a way that those who control the purse strings can truly understand. It’s a chicken and egg, but sometimes they need to see either the chicken or the egg to get something rolling.
In Denver’s case, now that there are suddenly thousands of more e-bikes riding around, and that seems to be making an impact on city officials.
The time has come to not just speed up the pace of bike lane installation, but to plan ahead for protected bike lanes that make everyone safer. The more comfortable people feel riding, the more they’ll ride. And the more they ride, the more everyone wins. Yes, even car drivers win too.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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