VOL. 55 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 6, 2018 P33
HARLEY-DAVIDSON ELECTRIC BIKE
COMING WITHIN 18 MONTHS
H
arley-Davidson CEO Matt
Levatich has confirmed the
bar and shield brand will be
bringing electric motorcycles to
the marketplace within the next
18 months.
"The EV (electric vehicle) mo-
torcycle market is in its infancy
today, but we believe premium
Harley-Davidson electric motor-
cycles will help drive excitement
and participation in the sport
globally," said Levatich. "As we
expand our EV capabilities and
commitment, we get even more
excited about the role electric
motorcycles will play in growing
our business."
Harley-Davidson created a
huge amount of publicity four
years ago with the release of
the Project Livewire prototype, a
machine built by the now defunct
Mission Motors in San Francisco
and badged Harley-Davidson.
With Mission now finished,
Harley-Davidson will likely be
building the machine in-house,
with Bloomberg reporting the
company will spend $25 million
to $50 million per year over the
next several years on electric
motorcycle technology, with the
goal of becoming the leader in
the electric motorcycle segment.
According to Bloomberg, in
a 2016 report, market research
firm TechNavio projected 45
percent growth in the electric
motorcycle industry by 2020,
which is a different story than the
current state of the U.S. motor-
cycle industry, where industry re-
tail sales were down 6.5 percent
in the fourth quarter of 2017 and
H-D's sales fell 11 percent in the
fourth quarter and 8.5 percent
for the year.
The news of Harley-David-
son's imminent, unnamed elec-
tric motorcycle(s) means Harley-
Davidson will be one of the first
mainstream manufacturers to
commit to an electric vehicle.
At present, there are electric
scooters offered by Piaggio and
BMW, as well as industry stal-
warts Zero, off-road brand, Alta
and more recently, KTM with
their Freeride E-XC. Ducati has
also committed to an electric
motorcycle in the future, while
the Japanese brands have proto-
types like the Yamaha PES2 and
PED2 but no machines currently
on sale to the public. CN
The Harley-Davidson
electric machine
will finally become
a reality nearly six
years after the Project
Livewire prototype
(pictured) was shown
to the public.
