Minnesota's e-bike rebate program gets 14,000 applications in 18 minutes

Minnesota's new e-bike rebate program has proven to be tremendously popular.

When applications first opened for the program, which can land Minnesotans up to $1,500 off a new e-bike purchase, the website crashed and the state had to postpone the program launch.

The Minnesota Department of Revenue gave it another try on Tuesday, almost a month after the initial launch, and the site held up this time. Though, it was only open for minutes. 

The newly-designed site began accepting applications at 11 a.m. By 11:20 a.m., the Department of Revenue had sent an email through its e-bike rebate alert newsletter that the portal was closed to new applications. 

The state previously said it would leave the application process open until it received 10,000 applications (less the 80 or so that managed to sneak through on the first try in June). About 1,300 of those applications will ultimately be approved.

However, in a mid-day update, the Department says it ultimately accepted more than 14,000 applications, which were submitted in the first 18 minutes the portal was open. When the process began at 11 a.m., 50,500 people were in the waiting room, hoping to get an application submitted. The digital waiting room peaked minutes later, with more than 61,000 waiting to submit their application.

The program is funded for next year as well. However, details aren't available on how things will be handled when applications reopen in "mid-2025."