Harley-Davidson Making the Jump into Electric Motorcycles
Two-wheeled culture will be getting a jolt of electricity.
Four years after Harley-Davidson debuted its electric motorcycle prototype named Project LiveWire, the company has announced that it will go into production and be introduced to the market sometime within the next year and a half.
According to Bloomberg, Matt Levatich, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson, delivered the news on Tuesday. “You’ve heard us talk about Project LiveWire. It’s an active project we’re preparing to bring to market within 18 months.”
The LiveWire bike was met with mixed response from some motorcycle riders, but performed well with automotive journalists. The prototype offered 74 horsepower, 52 foot-pounds of torque, and top speeds of 92 mph. It could hit 60 mph in under four seconds and it definitely had more style than other electric motorcycle models. Of course a major plus was the lowered pricetag. No word yet on what the production-ready LiveWire will offer.
The question is: If you build it, will they ride? Are Harley fans ready to embrace the electric bike? Will LiveWire open up H-D’s consumer base, tapping into a new market?
Alan Stulberg, founder of Revival Motorcycles, told Bloomberg “My feeling is that it will be well-received by the public and new buyers, which Harley direly needs, but not by people who normally ride a Harley. It’s awesome. It’s necessary. The more people who enter that market, the better.”
We’re interested to see where this new development will take Harley-Davidson. At least it might quiet those critics who incessantly say H-D is old school, out of touch, and a dying breed. We know that Harley-Davidson isn’t going anywhere, and by embracing new technology it looks like they have plans for a stronger future for both electric and internal combustion two-wheeled machines. And Levatich knows that the bottom line is the same, “Our brand stands for freedom and independence and personal freedom, and we think the brand is fundamentally sound.”
To celebrate, we’ve been cranking up this prophetic old-school Green Jello tune all day long….
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