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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Greenlane is firing up its second commercial EV truck charging corridor – this time connecting Southern California to Phoenix along Interstate 10. The move targets a major gap in electric freight infrastructure on one of the busiest shipping routes in the US.
Greenlane’s new electric truck corridor is backed by a strategic partnership with electric truck maker Windrose Technology, which has already proved the route’s viability. Its R700 Class 8 electric semi pulled off single-charge trips from Greenlane’s flagship Colton, California, site to Phoenix – nearly 300 miles – with a gross combined weight of 74,420 pounds and still had 12% battery left.
That’s no small feat for long-haul freight. Windrose also completed a Colton-to-Las Vegas run on I-15 under similar conditions. The trucks can charge fast, too – the R700 hit a peak 772 kW using dual-gun charging at Colton, cutting downtime for heavy-duty operations.
Windrose plans to build 2,000 electric trucks in 2026 and ramp up to 10,000 in 2027 worldwide. “Electric long-haul trucking isn’t just theory – it’s proven real-world performance,” said Windrose founder and CEO Wen Han.
The I-10 corridor will link Greenlane’s Colton hub to new sites in Blythe, California, and Greater Phoenix, Arizona. It’s part of the company’s larger plan to create a nationwide public charging network for medium- and heavy-duty fleets.
Electric trucking carrier Nevoya will be among the first customers to run the corridor. The company will use the Colton site as a charging and driver support base while operating battery-electric trucks along both I-10 and I-15.
Greenlane’s Colton flagship opened in April and packs over 40 high-speed chargers, including 12 pull-through bays for semis and 29 bobtail lanes. The site also has restrooms, Wi-Fi, 24/7 security, carports, office space, and parking – the kind of amenities long-haul drivers need on the road.
Read more: Greenlane’s flagship electric charging truck stop is now online
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Rivian has posted a job listing for a steering engineer, specifically mentioning work on a future steer-by-wire system for the company.
Update, Aug 11: Rivian has now specifically mentioned rear-wheel steering in a job posting.
Steer-by-wire is an automotive concept that has been around for a long time, but hasn’t yet reached mass adoption. The idea is to replace (or supplement) mechanical linkages between the steering wheel and the wheels with electronic actuators instead.
There are a number of potential benefits to this, like allowing more customizability or adaptability to a steering system, reducing mechanical complexity, or adding speed-sensitive variable steering ratios.
Although there are also disadvantages, like a reduction in steering feel (although, since most cars are moving to electronic power steering, that was already gone anyway).
But few cars have implemented steer-by-wire systems, or at least not fully committed to them, given that mechanical steering racks are a relatively solved problem and the general inertia of the car industry which would rather stick with a solution they know than switch to something better (haven’t we here, at this EV publication, heard *that* one before…). There’s also the matter of regulations, which have often been written to require mechanical steering systems, and may need updating to allow for steer by wire.
But, steer by wire made it into mass production with the release of the Tesla Cybertruck. This was big news when Tesla committed to this – at the time, it was the only thing on the road to exclusively use a steer by wire system, though there are other cars with partial steer by wire (for example, mechanical front wheel steering, and steer by wire rear-wheel steering).
But it seems to have opened the floodgates, as a number of other companies are working on or have since released steer by wire systems (Lexus, for example).
And now, it looks like Rivian is one of those companies – though we don’t know if it’s for the front or rear. (Update: Well, now we know, it looks like they are at the very least developing a rear-wheel steering system, according to another job listing. Though the company might still be working on steer-by-wire for the whole vehicle, too)
The company posted a job listing for “Sr. Staff Technical Program Manager, Steering Actuator System,” based at its Irvine, CA headquarters (spotted by Rivianforums). This wouldn’t be so exceptional, except that the job posting also specifically points out that “you’ll have full cradle-to-grave ownership of the SBW subsystem.”
So – we know they’re working on steer by wire, to some extent.
But a few other EVs, particularly large EVs like the Rivian R1 platform is, use steer by wire just for the rear wheels – for example the Hummer EV and Rolls-Royce Spectre. These systems are particularly helpful for giant vehicles, because it allows them to be more nimble and make turns that otherwise would require a lot more… negotiation in a giant land yacht.
So it’s possible that Rivian is only working on rear wheel steer by wire here, but we’d like to think there’s a chance it’s working on steer by wire for the full vehicle.
We also don’t know if this would show up on all of Rivian’s vehicles, or only on certain models – the R2 and R3 are in development, with R2 in pretty late stages, and the R1 just got a big refresh. But, perhaps even more interestingly (and very speculatively), VW has invested heavily in Rivian for technology help, so we wonder if we might end up seeing this in VW group vehicles, or Scout vehicles eventually…
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Automakers are scrambling to push their EVs out the door before the $7,500 Federal tax incentive for EVs disappears — and BMW is no different, offering aggressive cash back, owner loyalty, and special financing rates on its just-released 2026 model year EVs.
BMW has a history of offering solid loyalty incentive programs on its EVs in early summer to clear the tail-end of the model year and make room for the incoming builds, but CarsDirect is reporting some unusual loyalty deals from the brand that seem to suggest BMW is keen to capitalize on a spike in EV sales ahead of the Federal tax incentive’s looming cancellation in September.
BMW dealers now have the choice of adding an additional $1,000 loyalty contribution on select 2026 EVs. The i5 and i7 are offered with $1,000 and $4,000 loyalty bonuses, respectively, meaning if you drive a BMW and your dealer opts to tack on the extra bonus, you could save $5,000 on a 2026 i7. These loyalty programs are good when buying or leasing.
There’s also a $1,000 conquest bonus available for drivers of eligible EVs and PHEVs from other brands. This program is stackable with other offers.
Like other EV brands offering huge lease incentives, BMW customers will see the largest rebates on new BMWs when leasing. Now through September 30th, 2026 BMW i5, i7, and iX models are available with a stout $9,900 lease credit, while the bigger BMW XM comes in with a slightly lower, but still substantial $7,500 lease incentive.
Big deals on big BMW i7 sedan
People who prefer to own their vehicles once the payments are up can still score a great deal on an objectively excellent 2026 BMW i7 luxo-cruiser, thanks to the previously mentioned loyalty bonus if they’re previous customers plus a $7,500 Loan Credit that anyone can get when financing their new i7 with the brand’s captive financing company. BMW Bank offers financing rates as low a 3.99% for up to 60 months on the 2026 i5 and i7 sedans, as well as the iX crossover, as well as 4.99% APR 60-month rate on the high-performance XM plug-in hybrid.
The BMW iX, of course, snatched the top spot in J.D. Power’s EV Satisfaction Survey last year, having taken the crown from its BMW i4 stablemate. You can find out what’s behind that score here, or experience it for yourself at a local BMW dealer near you. Click the link(s) below to get a uniquely tailored offer on the exact BMW you want (trusted affiliate links).
SOURCES: CarsDirect, J.D. Power; images via BMW.
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