Harley-Davidson, the classic American motorcycle manufacturer, has just revealed its first electric motorcycle, a project dubbed LiveWire. Known for its roaring sound and appeal to both biker gangs and older, white gentlemen, Harley-Davidson aims to expands to broader demographic while simultaneously innovating the way motorbikes are ridden.
The new bike isn’t going on sale anytime soon, says Harley-Davidson president Matt Levatich. Instead, Harley-Davidson will beta-test the vehicle nationwide, with customers from across 30 cities during the course of its “Project LiveWire Experience” tour. The tour kicks off at an invitation-only event in New York City on June 24, before subsequently hitting up Boston, Philadelphia, and 27 other cities. The event will eventually expand into Canada and Europe in the coming year.
Bike specs
While bike specs remain largely unknown, we do know that the bike is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 in four seconds without needing to shift gears. That traditional Harley-esque engine roar that announced your presence on the road has been replaced with a new and silent hum resembling a jet taking off. While the sound may leave many traditionalists feeling skeptical, lead engineer Jeff Richlen is confident the bike’s performance will speak for itself. “Some people may get on it thinking, 'golf cart, and they get off thinking, 'rocket ship.’”
One major design flaw that Harley-Davidson will have to overcome is extremely short battery life battery of electric motorcycles; they have to be recharged after approximately 130 miles, and worse yet, recharging takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Due to the limited size of a motorbike’s chassis, electric motorcycles are forced to adopt smaller and weaker batteries than used in electric vehicles like the a Tesla Model S. Big boss-man Levatich assures us that LiveWire isn’t designed as nascent prototype of an upcoming product-line, but rather as the first step in helping the company gain an understanding of “rider expectations of what a Harley-Davison electric motorcycle should be like.”
Risky business
The current market for full-sized electric motorcycles is extremely limited. Zero Motorcycles, who introduced its first full-sized electric motorcycle in 2010, expects to sell roughly 2,400 units by the end of 2014. Harley-Davidson by contrast, sold more than 260,000 conventional motorcycles in 2013.
Harley-Davidson is hoping to leverage its robust size and marketing capabilities to tap into the worldwide market for two-wheeled electric-vehicles like scooters and low-powered bike; these devices are very popular with commuters in East Asia and sell by the millions. Unlike Zero Motorcycles, Harley’s marketing budget and access to worldwide dealerships should allow the company to gain a much more substantial footing when introducing electric vehicles.
Via Time
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