Since co-opening San Francisco e-bike shop The New Wheel in 2012, Brett Thurber has helped many customers buy e-bikes as replacements for their primary or secondary cars. But since April 1 (no joke!), he’s been attempting an all-new program to make the replacement process even easier and more attractive: The New Wheel is partnering with used car service Roadster.com to launch a car-for-e-bike trade-in program. (Read these 13 things you should know about e-bikes before making the trade.)

Here's how it will work: You bring your car to one of Thurber’s two stores (the other is in Marin County), where the sales staff will collect your car's VIN along with information about its condition, mileage, and any upgrades you've made. Meanwhile, you can test an e-bike or three. Within 48 hours, you'll receive a cash offer for the car and, if you accept it, Roadster will collect the vehicle and give you a check.

RELATED: What California's E-Bike Law Means for Cyclists in Other States

You'll have no obligation to actually put any of that money toward an e-bike, but the shop is throwing in a little heart tug: The New Wheel will donate $100 to a local bicycle coalition on your behalf, regardless of whether you end up buying an e-bike.

Roadster.com, of course, takes a cut, so you may only receive half the Kelly Blue Book value of your car. But some people may find that the lower payout is worth it for the convenience of not dealing with potential looky-loos or Craigslist con artists.

Think you can't get a workout on an e-bike? Think again:

An e-bike may not even gobble up the entire price of a used trade-in. The electric steeds range from $2,500 for a commuter to $10,000 for an internet-connected performance bike with 120 miles of battery range. Cargo bike models have enough room and torque to cart an adult, kids, and groceries up a hill. (The New Wheel sells only pedal-assist bikes, which supplement the rider's effort, as opposed to throttle-equipped drivetrains that do not require a rider to pedal.)

The New Wheel already accepts bike-for-bike trade-ins, which is an increasingly popular bike-selling tactic, and the retailer's website provides a classified page where existing customers, looking to upgrade can list the used electric bikes they want to sell.

Thurber hopes the car-for-bike trade-in will normalize electric bikes as car replacements.

RELATED: The Best E-Bikes You Can Buy

"Our number one hope is that it gets people thinking about their transportation choices" and makes it really easy to switch from a four-wheeled vehicle to a two-wheeled vehicle, he says.

But Thurber admits that this experiment is not just about subverting cultural norms—it's a marketing ploy that might soon find its way into use at your local bike shop.

"The used car market is enormous and it fuels a lot of the sale of new cars," he says. If the bike industry wants to be serious about impacting the transportation industry, he says, "we have to pick up some of [the car industry's] tricks."

Keep up with the latest cycling news by subscribing to our daily newsletter!

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io