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E-bike vouchers will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis from now on, after the lottery system presented a “potential barrier” to uptake.
The fourth quarterly application window for grants of either £300 (for standard e-bikes) or £600 (e-cargo bikes and adapted e-cycles) will open on Monday 30 October, and will remain open until all 260 grants from this release have been awarded.
Explaining the shift in how the scheme operates, Assistant Environment Minister with responsibility for climate change Hilary Jeune said: "We have seen that the potential barrier is this lottery scheme because there were those who were ready to buy an e-bike but were unable to because they didn't 'win' the voucher."
Speaking to Express, she continued: "We also did a survey for those who did the lottery in January and April and we found that 55% who did not redeem the vouchers did not because they hadn't done the research on how much an e-bike actually cost.
"They found that when they got the voucher and went out to buy an e-bike, they found it was too expensive.
"From the next scheme onwards, we will run it on a first-come, first-served basis.
"They have three months to use a voucher, and then that money goes back into the scheme to be used again."
Pictured: Deputy Jeune is responsible for helping to carry out initiatives outlined in the Carbon Neutral Roadmap, which aims to reduce the Island's emissions on a pathway to net zero by 2050.
Deputy Jeune also revealed that 233 bikes had so far been purchased through the scheme, with vouchers totalling £81,300 so far redeemed.
Feedback showed that Islanders used the bikes for commuting, with 88% of respondents saying their new e-bike has allowed them to reduce their car or van journeys.
A total of £300,000 (from the Climate Emergency Fund) has been allocated to the scheme for its two-year duration, aiming to incentivise behaviour change away from car journeys to this low emission alternative way of getting around.
Deputy Jeune said: "We will continue to run schemes until the £300,000 has been spent."
The 'lottery' scheme had previously come under criticism from Environment Scrutiny Panel member Deputy Rob Ward, who said: "I can’t help but think this is a token gesture, rather than a meaningful attempt to change the culture around cycling."
Fellow Reform Jersey member Deputy Sam Mézec, meanwhile, commented: "This scheme is a lottery which, under its current rules, can help rich people buy a £2,000 e-bike for £1,700. It also has no safeguards in it about the use of those ebikes remaining in Jersey. We raised these concerns with government previously, but clearly not important to them."
The owners of Pedal Power and Big Maggy's bike shops also raised concerns about the low value of the grants meaning that the scheme would likely only being accessible to those who could already afford an e-bike.
£300 for a standard e-bike (200 vouchers)
£600 for an e-cargo bike (50 vouchers)
£600 for an adapted e-cycle (10 vouchers)
Only 23% of Gov e-bike vouchers have been used
FOCUS: The e-bike grant ‘lottery’… "positive", "token" or money better spent on cycle tracks?
Gov launches £300k e-Bike ‘golden ticket’ grant scheme
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