E-Bike News: E-BIKE Tax Credit Update, Fazua, Yet, and More!

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By: Sam Gross

This week brings some good news and some bad news for hopefuls that the U.S. government might sometime soon help pay for electric bike purchases; the E-BIKE tax credit advances amongst lawmakers, but at a slashed proposed rate.

There’s also some new versions of one of Electric Bike Report’s favorite mid-drive motors, fans of Yeti mountain bikes can now get an eMTB from the Colorado-based company, and Tern built a doghouse for your e-bike.

That and more in this week’s news:

Proposed E-BIKE tax credit makes headway but gets slashed from 30% to 15%
Fazua debuts trail and street versions of the Ride 50 drive system
Yeti unveils first eMTB: It’s the signature blue, has a slick new linkage and is apparently ultra fast
Lectric e-bikes hires long-time cycling executive as COO
Tern special-built an accessory that helps you take your dog on an e-bike ride — It’s called the “Doghouse”

Proposed E-BIKE tax credit makes headway but gets slashed from 30% to 15%

We’ve been tracking progress of a proposed bill that would create a refundable tax credit for all new e-bikes sold in the U.S. costing less than $8,000 and, depending how you look at it, there was some progress this week that could be construed as either negative or positive.

The good news: The version of the bill introduced in the U.S. House (there’s also a companion bill in the U.S. Senate) was heard by the House Ways and Means Committee, a positive step forward. But some changes were made to the bill during the committee hearing, which is where things turn a little negative.

The bad news: Previously, the proposed bill, dubbed the E-BIKE Act, offered an up to 30 percent refundable tax credit on new e-bikes costing up to $8,000; capped at a max refund of $1,500. That tax credit has now been reduced to 15 percent of new e-bikes up to $8,000.

The committee also tacked on a phase out for the tax credit starting at $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married or joint filers.

There’s still some other apparent kinks in the law — such as wording that limits the credit to e-bikes with motors “less than” 750W — but at least it’s moving forward.

Fazua debuts trail and street versions of the Ride 50 e-bike motor

Fazua, a German maker of lightweight and removable e-bike motor and battery systems, dropped two new variations of their popular Ride 50 drive pack built specifically for trail or street applications.

The two new drive packs, called simply the Ride 50 Trial and Ride 50 Street, are lighter, 10 percent more powerful and sport optimized cooling fins designed specifically for on or off-road use. The main difference between the two appear to be those cooling fins — the street version optimized to use airflow for cooling and the trial version optimized to cool via radiant heat — and they each produce 300W of power and have 252Wh batteries.

We recently got to test out the Fazua drive system during our review of the BULLS Alpine Hawk EVO performance electric road bike, and we were super impressed with its responsiveness and stealthy looks.

Yeti unveils first eMTB: It’s the signature blue, has a slick new linkage and is apparently ultra fast

Yeti Cycles, the Colorado-based builder of cult classic mountain bikes, finally released its first eMTB this week — a Shimano EP8 powered all-mountain shredder with 170mm of suspension in the front and 160mm in the rear. Better late than never, I guess.

The new Yeti 160E is a race-inspired machine that claims to be out-of-the-box ready for e-enduro racing. The 160E comes with an all-new rear suspension linkage called Sixfinity, which was designed specifically for the power and mass of an eMTB. There’s a flip chip at the base of the rear shock that allows you to adjust the shock’s leverage rate progression and a 630Wh battery is housed inside the frame.

Yeti is one of many small, boutiquey “dream bike” companies with prices to match, and the 160E is no different. There’s two models that start at $10,100 and top out at $12,700.

Lectric e-bikes hires long-time cycling executive as COO

Lectric e-bikes, a fast-growing maker of fat tire electric folding bikes, announced this week they’ve added a long-time cycling industry executive to their ranks as chief operating officer.

Now, we don’t always point and clap when e-bike companies hire new C-suite suits, but we are going to point out this one. Why? Because we’re noticing a trend here of upstart eCommerce e-bike companies poaching experienced talent from elsewhere in the cycling industry. Lectric’s new hire, Jeff Frehner, is a former executive at Saris Cycling Group (racks, trainers and power meters) and Dorel Sports (they own Cannondale, GT, etc.). Rad Power Bikes and others are also examples of e-bike companies we’ve noticed with new names and faces from elsewhere in the cycling industry that have made an apparent impact on their product lines.

Hires like this are a good sign for the burgeoning eCommerce e-bike world. They’re a sign of progression, likely investment and will undoubtedly add some experience that should make affordable eCommerce e-bikes better.

Tern special-built an accessory that helps you take your dog on an e-bike ride — It’s called the “Doghouse”

SF cycling

Dogs like e-bikes, too. So Tern built a way for you to take them on a bike ride.

The Doghouse Mini, a modular mesh-paneled crate with teathers that attach to a dog’s harness, is designed to easily attach and detach to a Tern’s rear rack. Small to medium-sized dogs can fit inside the doghouse.

Tern’s new pup-friendly accessory is actually comprised of three different accessories, the clubhouse mini, soft crate mini and dog roof mini, that come together to create a safe carrying space. That may seem like a lot of accessories just to take your dog along, but we’ve seen people take more extreme measures to make sure their dog is included.

The new Doghouse Mini was one of several new accessories Tern unveiled at Eurobike this year, all of which were designed to make the already functional and family-friendly e-bikes even more useful. Tern additional launched a new weatherproof bag and a new weather-protected “fort” that’ll keep kids on the back of a bike out of the elements.