Or on Feb 19 will the Empulse be the only America electric bike on any dealers show floor. Where's Harleys Livewire ?

 

I don't know but the Livewire is probably in Harleys file thirteen.

 

Low fuel prices won't help...

 

Harleys CEO says the Livewire is still a go its about a year out. Polaris has the advantage since they bought an existing brand that was already up and running and just stuck their name on it.

 

Don't forget the Zero and the Lightning bikes and a few smaller US made scooters, I see a few Zero's regular around here. Livewire was a public trial test bed, was never meant to be a precursor to production.

 

No the Livewire will be a production bike.

 

While I think there is a further market for electric motorcycles - I think its a longer future for Harley.....

 

When it comes to making a battery powered electric vehicle, motorcycles make a lot of sense. Way less dead weight to drag around compared to a car.

That being said, I don't see electric motorcycles as either a replacement for or in competition with traditional motorcycles. They are a completely different thing. Different market. Different uses.

I see electric motorcycles as being more in the scooter space: Compact, light, cheap knock-around urban vehicles.

Whether the MoCo can get in on that is an open question. I think the general public perception of the HD brand is something like "overpriced motorcycles of questionable engineering explicitly marketed to aging Jax Teller wannabes". It is going to take a lot of effort to get the Millennial hipster crowd (the guys who currently are on scooters) to give them a try.

 

Electric vehicles in general will not replace internal combustion until a breakthrough in the storage of electrical energy can be achieved. The problem of short range and loooooooooong recharge cycles will limit their utility for the foreseeable future. Then, too, there's the question of where the electrical energy to charge millions of EVs will come from. There's not enough electrical capacity to run our air conditioners in the summer now, and almost no new generating plants are being built.


As you said, the market for the time being is in urban transportation and short range commuting. I'm not sure this is a market where Harley can, or even wants to compete.

 

LiveWire motorcycles will appeal to commuters and greenies and not much more.