STEPS TO: – The electric bicycle can be the new public transport, says MDG’s Lan Marie Berg. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
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MDG will equate an electric bicycle with an electric car and remove VAT. In addition, the party requests that NOK 1 billion be set aside in cash support for electric bicycle buyers.
The proposals will be formally launched on World Bicycle Day on 3 June.
MDG wants a national support scheme where people who buy an electric bicycle receive a cash amount in support. In total, the party will set aside NOK 167 million for this every year for a six-year period, a total of NOK 1 billion.
– The electric bicycle has the potential to become the new public transport, says Oslo’s environmental councilor and parliamentary candidate from Oslo MDG, Lan Marie Berg, to NTB.
Looking to Oslo – and Sweden
She refers to Oslo, where the city council has carried out a pilot project with grants to buy electric bicycles and transport bicycles. The grant became the most popular from the municipality’s climate and energy fund ever.
– It had such a good effect that the Swedish government introduced an electric bicycle subsidy of NOK 1 billion, which led to strong growth in sales of electric bicycles. Now MDG will have the same investment in electric bicycles in Norway, so that even more people across the country can afford to get an electric bicycle, says Berg.
—-ELECTRIC BICYCLE BILLION: The state should step in with support for people who buy bicycles with batteries, MDG believes. On World Bicycle Day, they launch the idea of a billion electric bicycles. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
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In Sweden, the electric bicycle support led to sales more than doubling, from 65,000 to 142,000 electric bicycles in one year. The Swedes could apply for a refund of 25 percent of the purchase price when they bought an electric bicycle, limited up to 10,000 Swedish kroner.
According to MDG’s calculations, such a support scheme alone will provide at least 180,000 new electric bicycles on Norwegian roads in the coming years.
Requires VAT exemption
In addition, the MDG requires that electric bicycles also receive VAT exemption on an equal footing with electric cars.
– Today, the state spends many hundreds of thousands in tax breaks for those who buy new electric cars, but you do not get a penny if you buy an electric bike, says Berg, who points out that the total tax benefit for electric cars was estimated at 19.2 billion kroner. in 2020.
If electric cyclists get the same tax relief, it will cost around NOK 300 million a year, MDG has calculated.
Bicycle package to 23 billion
MDG will also increase its investment in new cycle paths sharply and give more money to municipalities that prioritize pedestrian and cycle paths, as well as support companies that facilitate cycling in the workplace.
– In addition to making electric bicycles cheaper, it is absolutely crucial that we build more and better cycle paths, says Berg.
In total, the party proposes to increase the pot for bicycle measures with the net sum of NOK 23.5 billion more than the government, spread over the next decade.
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