Project LiveWire
It might make a good chapter in his memoir: Harley-Davidson’s Matt Levatch: “My Biggest Mistake.”
I’m talking about Project LiveWire and pivoting the motor company faster toward electric motorcycles.
As I previously posted, Mr. Levatch was “selected” to run the company after Keith Wandell retired. A year after Harley-Davidson debuted the prototype for its LiveWire battery-powered motorcycle, Mr. Levatch states it will be much longer before the company’s new e-motorcycle will hit the market. When pressed, Mr. Levatch narrowed down the possibility of an e-motorcycle launch sometime between 2018 and 2020. Really?
Battery recharges seem to be the culprit.
That low-pitched whine we hear isn’t the aluminum-bodied prototypes in the wind. Rather, it’s the ringing of cash registers at Zero Motorcycles and Polaris Industries who plans to release an e-motorcycle later this year.
Is it time for Matt and Musk to meet? You know, that “Project Tiger” (the local code name for the Tesla battery factory east of Reno, NV) is on track and continues to move forward. Mr. Musk might have some battery IP to provide Harley-Davidson.
Until they launch LiveWire, we can check it out in the action on the big screen. The latest Marvel blockbuster, called Avengers #27 or is that Age of Ultron, which features a prototype version of the electric bike driven by actress Scarlett Johanssen’s character Black Widow.
Photos courtesy of H-D.
Northwest Harley Blog 
The electric bike maybe a thing of the future, but until 2 major issues can be resolved …….. distance of travel ….. and charge time …. they will never take over from the good old gas bike. Hell, if you can’t ride 300 miles on it and have to wait 12+ hours to recharge it it sure is of little appeal to us who like to travel on a bike.
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