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To be fair, it can be hard to gauge just how popular a new website will be, so calculating just how robust the servers for the site need to be can be a matter of informed guesswork. That said, the Minnesota Department of Revenue was caught flat-footed by the number of people applying for the rebate. There was always a high likelihood that the site would receive exceptional traffic as the program held only $2 million in funds. With rebate amounts capped at $1,500, that means that only 1,300 people would receive rebates. With such a limited number of rebates available in a state that saw an estimated 20,000 e-bikes sold in 2023 alone, the safe money would have bet a staggering amount of traffic to the Minnesota DOR website.

Following several hours of failed operation, the website was taken offline and the Minnesota DOR issued a press release that acknowledged the site’s issues and said, “We are working with our external technology vendors engaged for this program to understand and fix the technical issues on the site.”

Put another way, they are saying they are asking their hosting company (Minnesota IT Services) how much bandwidth they need.

Minnesota residents awaiting news of the program’s return can sign up for email updates with the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

The why of hydrogen gas is pretty interesting, Hindenburg notwithstanding. Here’s the first good reason to use hydrogen gas to power an electric motor: While an e-bike battery takes hours to charge, even with a 4 or 5A charger, a hydrogen tank can be filled or “charged” in mere seconds. The tank can be pressurized to 1 megapascal (MPa), which translates to 145 psi. Once charged, the tank can provide as much as 40 mi. of range on a single charge.

Here’s another reason why hydrogen is an interesting idea: Considering the size and weight of the tank, carrying additional tanks would be easy to do and purchasing additional tanks won’t come with a weight penalty of more than a few ounces. Doubling or tripling the e-bike’s range would not be difficult.

Yet another reason why hydrogen makes a compelling fuel: The exhaust is water.

Hydroride makes several different models of e-bikes. They offer a city model made for bike share programs, a folding e-bike and a “sport” e-bike that looks like it came from the set of a sci-fi movie thanks, in part, to a fork with only a left leg.

The key to the system is the hydrogen gas generator which is roughly the size and shape of a home oxygen concentrator used by people with respiratory issues. The hydrogen generator takes 200ml (6.7 oz.) and turns that into 5g of hydrogen gas over a 5-hour period of time. That 5g of hydrogen gas is what goes into the tank. Changing tanks on the e-bike takes about 10 seconds, they report.

The tank has a capacity of 390ml (13.1 oz.) and measures just 9.8 in. tall and 2.4 in. in diameter. One tank will hold 20g of hydrogen, which means that it takes about five hours to generate enough hydrogen to give an e-bike 40 mi. of range. That’s pretty close to what we see with many e-bikes.

Delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS have instituted pilot programs in which they are testing four-wheeled e-bikes. Smaller than a traditional delivery truck, they are easy to park and offer a carbon footprint that is a fraction of that generated by big trucks. Plus, they can carry far more packages than a cargo e-bike is able.

But what about private citizens like us? What if we want an alternative to an expensive-to-fill SUV? Well, there are companies that are beginning to offer vehicles that cross the drivetrain and motor of an e-bike with the stability and carrying capacity of a four-wheeled vehicle. These new designs sit almost perfectly between what an e-bike is and what an EV is, and as a result, they’ve been given the clunky name “car bikes.”

You’re probably wondering why four wheels rather than three? Even though adding a fourth wheel adds weight and increases rolling resistance, anyone who has ridden a trike of any sort will attest that four wheels are inherently more stable than three. And once you add some sort of canopy to the vehicle, that raises the center of gravity, increasing the possibility of tipping in a hard turn, so a fourth wheel is critical to making the “car bike” as stable as possible.

One French company decided to embrace the term, going so far as to name their company Karbikes. The Karbike rolls on a four-wheel chassis and features a 250W motor and a 1200Wh battery, which is estimated to offer up to 40 mi. of range per charge. It has a roof and windshield as well as removable doors, depending on the weather. Behind the rider is a seat wide enough for two kids or one adult and the seatback can fold down to convert the seat into an expanded cargo area.

Many of these designs allow the rider/driver (drider?) to sit upright as you might in a car, but some go for a more laid-back recumbent position.

The Podbike is one such design; it is produced by a Norwegian company called Frikar. The Podrider uses a single-seat recumbent design with a canopy that looks like it came from a fighter jet. By giving it an aerodynamic form it gains efficiency to help offset its weight and allow riders to enjoy the sort of range one might see with a more traditional e-bike. When not in use it can be tipped up on its back for storage that occupies only 1m². The Podbike has already entered production and Frikar reports that they have more than 4,600 preorders.

Yet another is made by the German company CityQ. It has four wheels, up to 2m³ of storage for the closed version, but there’s also one with a pickup-style open bed in the rear. DHL has purchased some for use in deliveries.

In the U.K. a more elaborate form of cargo car bike, the Cityshuttle ePack, looks like a small, articulated truck. It is meant as a delivery vehicle, but can also be configured for carrying passengers. People in the U.K. have complained that its weight—which can run as high as 650kg (1433 lbs.)—presents a fresh form of danger for pedestrians.