The idea of combining an electric motorcycle with a traditional name like Harley-Davidson might set off alarms among some two-wheeler fans, but the company has already been working for two years on that. Its LiveWire prototype surprised enthusiasts and skeptics alike despite the technological limitations of the time, and now we learn that LiveWire will have a commercial variant within the next five years.
From Prototype to Production
Route 66, desert on both sides, a Harley-Davidson between your legs and the wind at your back. Who hasn't dreamed of something like that? Well, I have (several times), but I'm poor, I'm very far from Route 66, and I'd probably break my neck riding a Harley. Let's set dreams aside and focus on reality. Like many other companies, Harley-Davidson has decided to explore different methods to establish itself in a complex market like the electric one, and its first solid attempt materialized in June 2014 with the LiveWire prototype. 74 horsepower, a top speed of 150 kilometers per hour, and a 0-100 in less than four seconds gave an interesting profile to a motorcycle whose main limitation was its range (less than 100 real kilometers). In May 2015, Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich explained that the launch of a commercial electric motorcycle depended on battery improvements, moving its potential debut two or three years into the future. A year after those statements, we now know it will be within the next half decade.
Official Confirmation and Future Plans
The news comes from statements by Vice President Sean Cummings, who oversees Harley-Davidson's “Global Demand” division. This official confirmation is interesting for two reasons. First, the batteries used in LiveWire were created by Mission Motors, a company that went up in smoke in 2015 after losing several engineers and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. That makes us think Harley-Davidson will continue development on its own, or seek assistance from someone else. Second, LiveWire has accumulated two years of feedback, having visited more than thirty dealerships in the United States. To this we must add the work of the competition, since Victory has a slight head start offering alternatives like the Empulse TT.
In short: Harley-Davidson is in no hurry, but the commercial variant of the electric LiveWire motorcycle is on the way. Five years is a fairly reasonable margin to wait for batteries to improve their performance, and why not, optimize other aspects.
