John MacDonald: Ebike subsidies - an idea that sounds brilliant, but isn't

A daft idea that sounds brilliant, but isn't.

Like so many ideas - especially when it comes to being eco-friendly - this idea is one of those ones that makes people feel good. And they get so overwhelmed by “feeling good” about the idea, that they don’t actually test it or challenge it to see if it really is a good idea.

Just “sounding” like a good idea is enough for some people. And that is exactly what happened yesterday, when Christchurch city councillors got together to discuss a climate change report by Councillor Sara Templeton.

In that report, Councillor Templeton said the council should write to the Transport Minister to tell him that the Government should be paying-out subsidies to people who buy e-bikes.

If you buy an electric car, you can get an $8,000 subsidy from the Government. But nothing if you buy an ebike.

Councillor Templeton thinks that’s wrong and she wants government money going into ebikes. And she said in this report of hers that the council should write to the Government saying so.

And what do you think happened when city councillors considered this idea of hers yesterday? What do you think they did?

They did absolutely nothing - other than say it was a brilliant idea and vote in favour of it. All but one voted in favour.

All but one of them just accepted her recommendation and now someone’s got the job of writing the letter, Mayor Phil Mauger will sign it, lick the envelope and away it’ll go.

They not only voted in overwhelming numbers in support of asking the Government for ebike subsidies, they also didn’t even discuss it! There was no debate. All bar one-of-them nodded their heads and congratulated Sara for her report.

If they had even bothered to have a convo about it, they might of seen it for the nonsense it is.

Maybe - just maybe - it was rubber-stamped because it’s not council money they’re talking about.

It’s government money they want ploughed into ebikes. So it was probably very easy to vote “yes” because, if the Government decides to run with it, the council won’t have any skin in the game. I also understand that Christchurch council is the first in the country to do this. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Probably the complete opposite, if you ask me.

But, surely, if they’d thought about it for just five minutes before going all eco-gaga on it, the same things that have occurred to me would have occurred to them.

For starters, if the Government did make an ebike subsidy available, we know who’d be at the front of the queue with their hands out. It wouldn’t be your family of five struggling to put food on the table. It wouldn’t be them.

It’d be all the baby boomers who’ve always fancied doing the Central Otago rail trail but don’t have the legs to ride a normal bike anymore. That’s not a dig at baby boomers, by the way. But you get the type of person I’m talking about, don’t you?

Just like the EV subsidies going to people buying Teslas.

The other thing that jumped out at me about this subsidy idea - which might have jumped out to councillors too if they’d thought about it for five minutes - is that just because someone buys an ebike, it doesn’t mean they turn into Bear Grylls.

Just because you get an ebike, you’re not suddenly going to be the type of person who rides everywhere whatever the weather. Rain? Doesn’t put me off. Frosts? Love riding my bike on those days. That doesn’t happen.

And because you don’t turn into Bear Grylls or Sir Edmund Hillary when you buy an ebike, chances are government-subsidised ebikes would just sit in the garage.

The difference with electric cars is, that when you get an EV, you don’t have to change your whole lifestyle. Which is why it makes sense for the Government to pay subsidies to get people using them. But not for ebikes.

When you buy an EV, you don’t suddenly have to start dressing like someone working on