Levatich: LiveWire still some time away
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Harley-Davidson boss said the bike is unlikely to hit the market soon, but it "won't be past 2020 either"Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich has provided a vague timeline of when we might be seeing the company's LiveWire electric machine go to market. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Levatich was quoted as saying that a launch is “not in the next couple years but it’s not past 2020 either, unless we run into some impossible barrier".
Harley-Davidson hasn’t previously given a time frame for the LiveWire’s launch, although the company has already manufactured about 35 prototypes which have been active at dealer events in North America and Europe — not Australia yet though.
However, Bikesales has ridden LiveWire around the back blocks of Los Angeles, and you can read our ride impression here.
If LiveWire's market debut debut does fall under the Levatich timeline, Harley-Davidson is still set to be some way behind cruiser and touring rival Victory, which plans to start
Currently, LiveWire has an 80km range, depending on speed and conditions — but Levatich has indicated that potential buyers want a range of about 160km.
With the LiveWire, Harley-Davidson will be moving away from its baby boomer staple and focussing on younger riders, women and minorities.
“We don’t see this as a motorcycle people are going to ride to Sturgis,” Levatich was quoted as saying by the WSJ. “We see it as an urban product.”
Global sales of electric motorcycles are likely to reach 1.5 million units in 2024, from a projected 1.2 million this year, according to Navigant Research.
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