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New bike! Thanks to a donation from Velotric, we now have a Discover 2 available to borrow.

Curious about e-bikes? Try one from the E-bike Lending Library!

Interested in buying an electric bike but not sure where to start? The Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library is a local nonprofit that lends out e-bikes for up to a week to help figure out whether an e-bike would be a good fit for you. Loans are free, but we depend on donations to help cover the costs of maintaining our fleet.

When you borrow a bike, you can experience your daily commute, go grocery shopping, or even bike your kids to school, and decide whether e-bikes are right for you. Sign up to borrow an e-bike or contact us with any questions.

How it works

  • Contact us to let us know which e-bike(s) you’d like to try.
  • We’ll get in touch to schedule a time to borrow an e-bike.
  • Visit the library in Fifeville to pick up an e-bike. If you haven’t ridden an e-bike before, expect this to take 15-30 minutes, or longer if you want to try more than one e-bike.
  • Enjoy e-biking for up to a week, then bring the e-bike back to the library.
  • You can borrow an e-bike more than once, or borrow multiple e-bikes.

To be eligible, you must be 18 or older, and have a secure place to store an e-bike at home, and at work or school if you plan to commute. You should also be comfortable riding a standard bicycle before trying an e-bike.

The E-bike Library is run by me, Josh Carp, using my own e-bikes and some e-bikes donated by friends and neighbors. The e-bikes are stored in my laundry room and shed at my home in Fifeville:

E-bikes at the library

The e-bikes are free to borrow, but we welcome donations and volunteers if you’d like to support our mission and help cover our costs.

Read more about our bikes

Pick up some free stuff

Join us at one of our events