Washington’s e-bike rebate program opening second application round March 30

The Washington State Department of Transportation is relaunching the state’s WE-Bike e-bike rebate program on March 30 to help even more travelers get rolling with active transportation.

People living in Washington ages 16 and up may apply for rebates any time between March 30, 2026, and March 29, 2027, through an upcoming application portal. The program will randomly select applicants monthly starting April 13. Applicants only need to submit one application to be considered for the monthly selections.

Rebates alone will likely not fully cover e-bike purchases. Recipients can reduce the overall cost of e-bike purchases at participating bike shops by $300 or $1,200, depending on income eligibility. They can put rebates toward qualifying models of all three classes of e-bike.

Successful WE-Bike launch in 2025

This second, longer WE-Bike rebate application round builds on the success of the 2025 pilot program.

Feedback from the pilot round confirmed rebates motivated people to buy e-bikes they couldn’t or wouldn’t have otherwise, especially people in lower-income households. Nearly half of rebate recipients surveyed said they used e-bikes to travel to new destinations. In all, WE-Bike offered 6,861 out of 37,751 applicants from all 39 Washington counties the opportunity to use rebates.

The Washington State Legislature first funded the WE-Bike program with $5 million in the 2023-25 biennium to make e-bikes more affordable for people living in the state. In its 2025-26 session, the Legislature renewed the program while increasing funding, appropriating $7 million for WE-Bike to spend in the 2025-27 biennium.

“We’re proud to deliver the WE-Bike program and excited for communities statewide to benefit from it,” said Kerri Woehler, WSDOT assistant secretary for Multimodal Development and Delivery. “WSDOT is building a transportation system that works just as well for people driving as it does for people walking, biking and rolling. As we expand Washington’s network of bike routes, WE-Bike makes it possible for more neighbors to take advantage of a convenient, healthy form of transportation.”

WSDOT and its contractor will finalize program logistics over the next few weeks. This includes training staff at participating bike shops statewide on handling rebates and educating consumers, preparing customer service staff to guide people through the application process and more.

WSDOT will share more information about the program launch soon through the Active Transportation Division’s Walk & Roll Newsletter, a dedicated e-bike program listserv and the agency’s program webpage.