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Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by lm28469 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @07:57AM (#32563503)
> All it does is encourage people to buy a more expensive bike

Virtue signalling and a half disguised way of increasing sales and consumerism

If they really cared about climate they'd find proper ways (more/cheaper public transport, state sponsored bicycle sharing, &c.). This is "green capitalism", just slap an "electric" sticker on it and continue with the good old ways

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by adrianN on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:01AM (#32563546)
Replacing cars with bicycles is one of the most "proper" ways of decarbonizing transportation.
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by lm28469 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:25AM (#32563819)
But apparently only expensive and new electric bikes, not regular bikes or used bikes. And you have to make 900 euros a months, otherwise you're not worthy of assistance, but also you have to pay 60% out of pocket....
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by adrianN on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:28AM (#32563856)
It's certainly far from perfect, but it's still replacing cars with bicycles.
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by throwaway0a5e on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:58AM (#32565013)
Yeah, but the bottom of the market where there's no slack isn't where you start.

Kicking the poors while they're down and/or pulling the rug out from under people who are just barely doing better is not a sustainable way of decarbonizing society and it seems like every decarbonizing policy does just that. We can get away with a few such policies but when they're all like that it doesn't work.

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by mytailorisrich on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:49AM (#32564117)
I doubt many people would actually replace cars with bicycles.

It's not the same use case and in congested places like central Paris people who need a motor have scooters.

Feedback stats on these schemes are important but rarely conducted or published in a transparent way as the government obviously has a vested interest in claiming that they work great.

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by adrianN on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @08:57AM (#32564241)
Since you need to get rid of a car to get the subsidy and you have to pay a substantial part of the cost of the bicycle yourself, even if you wanted to scrap a car to buy a new one you probably expect to use the electric bike at least often enough to justify paying the subsidized price for it.
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by mytailorisrich on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @12:26PM (#32567269)
The point of my previous comment is that I don't see many people swapping their car for an ebike. That would be the key metric to judge this scheme (alongside the actual cost to taxpayers...)

I am sure some people will use the scheme but probably because they were thinking of getting an ebike anyway and a replacing their car for a new one...

It's the usual and main issue with those schemes: they are political decisions and don't always make practical or economical sense.

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by pjmlp on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:20AM (#32564507)
Sure, if you want one bycicle per person on the family, and everyone enjoys getting soaked in water during Winter.
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by wikfwikf on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @09:39AM (#32564766)
This is literally state sponsored bicycle use. What would you suggest that 'state sponsored bicycle sharing' should consist of?
Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by lm28469 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:06AM (#32565119)
> What would you suggest that 'state sponsored bicycle sharing' should consist of

Instead of renting an uber&co bikes (companies which use public infrastructure yet pay virtually no local tax) you'd rent state owned bikes, parked on official bike parkings. It could be part of your existing public transportation package &c.

It really doesn't take a genius to see how the current mayhem could be improved on so many levels

Re:France is now offering a €4k e-bike subsidy to people who... by WastingMyTime89 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @10:24AM (#32565369)
France already has that in all of the major cities. The subscription is heavily subsidised if you are poor.

This is the next step when you already have that.