Harley-Davidson Goes Electric (Soon) with Project Livewire

Harley-Davidson is going electric. Or, it’s about to, once it has a powwow with some of its fans.

After hinting at an unveiling of a new electric motorcycle today for a while, Milwaukee’s motorcycle maker made the official announcement today that it had charged up Project Livewire – its entry into the world of electric motorcycles. Over the coming days, Harley-Davidson will hold a series of test ride events to allow riders to try out the electric bike before they share their opinions with H-D officials.

So, the big announcement today was a sort of “almost news.” Harley-Davidson successfully kept its electric bike R&D program under wraps successfully. They teased the reveal and got the industry talking. But, they haven’t built the bikes en masse yet. They haven’t release the complete specs. We don’t know how much it’ll cost or what its range will be what speed, etc. We only know there will eventually be an electric motorcycle from Harley-Davidson that you can charge off an electrical outlet — once H-D collects a little more marketing research off would-be buyers in-person visits across the country.

Harley-Davidson Hints at New Electric Motorcycle

Project Livewire takes a page from Harley’s recent Project Rushmore. While the latter dealt with more traditional, big custom motorcycles, it was an also attempt to collect riders’ opinions on ways Harley-Davidson could improve their bikes.

The electric bike effort is also part of a larger H-D plan to modernize segments of its line to appeal to a younger and more ethnically diverse crowd. The Road King riding gray beards won’t last forever, and the minds in Milwaukee know this only too well. From its Dark Custom line to its introductions this year of the smaller and more affordable Street 750 and Street 500, Harley-Davidson is dedicated to recruiting a new generation. Since that generation has grown up in an era of a never-ending drumbeat of green obsession, developing an electric bike was another natural step for H-D.

As for styling, the Project Livewire concept is a step away from the company’s traditional cruisers and touring bikes. It creeps a bit into street bike territory, resembling other pre-existing would-be competitors than even H-Ds more aggressive V-Rod line.

For now, Harley-Davidson is making news about bigger news it will make eventually. It’s safe to assume the Project Livewire Tour will gather up consumer opinions before the final bike is fine tuned for release.

Meanwhile, one thing is certain. After all this build-up and fuss, there’s no way H-D will be backing down from this challenge. We will see an electric Harley-Davidson on showroom floors sooner rather than later.

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