The Greens’ proposal: election campaign with the cargo bike premium

The promotion of private cargo bikes as part of the traffic turnaround has become an election issue. They are in great demand as transport bikes – local subsidies are usually used up quickly.

Until recently, hardly anyone would have suspected that such a topic could lead to a heated debate in the federal election campaign. But climate change and the associated mobility transition have surprisingly washed it onto the agenda: the promotion of cargo bikes.

The Greens want to spend a billion euros on the subsidy. One million private bikes should be funded by the federal government with a grant of 1000 euros each, said Sven-Christian Kindler, Member of the Green Party, recently to the “editorial network Germany”. Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock supported the proposal. There should be no “absolute inequality” to the existing funding of 6000 euros for electric cars. With cargo bikes, people could also bring their purchases home who do not have a driver’s license or who do not want to or cannot drive a car.

A possible purchase bonus has been a controversial and heated discussion for days. Environment Minister Svenja Schulze reacted skeptically to the proposal: The federal government has long been promoting cargo bikes for companies, freelancers and municipalities, according to the SPD politician. “That brings more for climate protection.” CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak called the idea on Twitter “abstruse and unworldly”.

Sales figures crack the 100,000 mark for the first time

Whether for shopping, to get the child out of daycare or to bring home parts from the hardware store: Thanks to their storage space, cargo bikes should enable the transport of larger objects by bike and thus replace car journeys. You drive CO2-neutrally and could thus make a contribution to the turnaround in traffic. Because around half of all users would otherwise travel by car, calculates the ADFC bicycle club.

According to the Zweirad-Industrie-Verband (ZIV), around 103,200 cargo bikes were sold in Germany last year. For the first time ever, the 100,000 mark was broken. More than three quarters of the models are e-bikes. Its sales increased by a whopping 40 percent compared to the previous year. According to the ZIV, the number of cargo bikes sold annually has increased sixfold since 2016.

“There are still more cargo bikes than electric cars on German roads,” says Jonas Kremer, board member of the Radlogistikverband (RLVD) and head of the Berlin manufacturer citkar. Because more cargo bikes than e-cars were sold in both 2017 and 2019. But that has now changed due to the purchase bonuses.

More and more important in transport

Less noise, exhaust fumes and disabilities: more cargo bikes should relieve inner cities. According to Ralf Bogdanski, a logistics professor at the Technical University of Nuremberg, they could replace up to 30 percent of the traffic in parcel delivery. In April, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer named freight traffic as one of the key objectives in the National Bicycle Traffic Plan 3.0 – with a target of 30 percent of deliveries by cargo bikes on the last mile. “As of today, we are still relatively far away from that due to the lack of buying incentives, the weak infrastructure and technical limits,” explains Kremer. An electric van can be leased for 15 to 20 euros a month, so a cargo bike is hardly worthwhile.

The bikes are mainly used in logistics. “Our customers are parcel delivery companies such as Hermes, delivery services or logistics start-ups such as Kiezbote in Berlin and Incharge in Düsseldorf,” says the head of the cargo bikes working group, which was founded a few months ago by several associations. But also many craftsmen, such as apprentices without a driver’s license, care services, and even cleaning staff from waste management would use the vehicles in some cities. The parcel service provider UPS is also involved in Aachen.

“The companies have long been concerned with low-emission mobility without the long search for a parking space and high costs,” says Kremer. The market has been growing massively since 2010. It is now difficult to get a cargo bike within a delivery time of three to four months. This is also due to the corona, but the demand has risen extremely this year. According to Kemer, the growth rates are now over 100 percent.

The loss of time in cities is minimal, as a three-year study by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with 800 participating companies shows. They tested their trips with cargo bikes. The result: on almost half of the 30,000 tours, the drivers would have arrived only two to ten minutes later.

Not just an ethical status symbol

The prices for cheaper cargo bikes start at 1000 euros. E-powered bikes or high-quality bikes such as those from the Hessian manufacturer Riese und Müller, one of the German market leaders, cost up to 8,000 euros in the online shop. So if you want a better model, you have to dig deep into your wallet. Nationwide funding programs are only available for companies, freelancers, associations or municipalities. So far, there are no nationwide premiums for private households. The Greens want to change that – which not everyone likes.

Critics describe the cargo bike as an ethical status symbol for upper-class urban families. “The Greens want to use the taxpayers’ money to pursue clientele policy,” said the FDP parliamentary group vice-president in the Bundestag, Christian Dürr. “We will not save the world climate by subsidizing cargo bikes in Berlin-Kreuzberg.”

“Of course there are also mothers in Prenzlauer and Kreuzberg who drive their children from A to B. But not only that. And they are not even the largest group,” says Kremer. The four-wheeled Citkar vehicles show particularly high interest from physically handicapped people. Otherwise, many citizens would use the cheaper cargo bikes that want to replace their car for short distances – both in the country and in the city.

Strong use of municipal purchasing premiums

Every fourth family in Copenhagen owns a cargo bike. The Danish capital is considered to be the origin of transport bikes. In order to get into this order of magnitude, the bikes have to be cheaper. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, around 70 municipalities offered a purchase premium for private cargo bikes in 2021 – with high demand.

“In Berlin in May there was a subsidy for private cargo bikes. The funds were exhausted within twelve hours,” says Kremer. In Hamburg and Düsseldorf, too, the funding was quickly used up. In Frankfurt am Main, the funding pot of 150,000 euros in April was also empty after just a few days, according to the city’s transport department. “The demand for this was enormous,” writes the authority tagesschau.de.

Since the pot for legal entities, on the other hand, has not yet been fully exhausted and many applicants have also bought seat belts, the city assumes that the bicycles will primarily be used for transporting children. The next funding round begins in February.

Even smaller and more rural municipalities report a high level of interest. “The funding program for cargo bikes, cargo pedelecs and multi-wheeled electric light vehicles has met with great interest, also in our social media,” said the Hanseatic city of Attendorn from the Olpe district in North Rhine-Westphalia. No application has yet been received, but there are many inquiries.

Premiums for leasing are also demanded

The Greens’ proposal is welcomed in the scene. Industry representative Kremer nevertheless suggests a few improvements: “The funding must be leasable.” Because most commercial customers would not buy the bikes.

In addition, there is the amount of the purchase premium. That might be enough for private cargo bikes. But that is not enough for other price categories in the commercial sector. “Why don’t you give 50 percent funding?” Then it is a fair division.