Harley-Davidson Spins Off LiveWire As Its Own Electric Motorcycle Brand
The first LiveWire branded model will be launched July 8
Harley-Davidson announced it is launching LiveWire as its own brand dedicated to electric motorcycles. Moving forward, LiveWire won’t just be the name of Harley-Davidson’s first EV, but a brand to itself covering a number of models. The first LiveWire branded model will be launched July 8 ahead of a public debut the next day at the International Motorcycle Show in Irvine, Calif.
Discuss this story more at our H-D LiveWire Forum
Spinning off a dedicated electric motorcycle brand was one of the tenets of Harley-Davidson’s Hardwire plan. As a separate division, LiveWire will have full autonomy over EV development separate from Harley-Davidson’s internal combustion engine models.
“One of the six pillars of The Hardwire Strategy is to lead in electric – by launching LiveWire as an all-electric brand, we are seizing the opportunity to lead and define the market in EV,” says Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO of Harley-Davidson “With the mission to be the most desirable electric motorcycle brand in the world, LiveWire will pioneer the future of motorcycling, for the pursuit of urban adventure and beyond. LiveWire also plans to innovate and develop technology that will be applicable to Harley-Davidson electric motorcycles in the future.”
According to Harley-Davidson, this would allow for “more agile decision making and execution, and allow for potential external partnerships for future developments.” LiveWire will be able to develop electric drive technology independently while still being able to benefit from Harley-Davidson’s engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics infrastructure.
In addition to a new logo, LiveWire will operate dedicated EV showrooms at select locations, with the first spots opening in California. LiveWire will also work with participating Harley-Davidson dealers as an independent brand with a blend of digital and physical retail formats.
What remains to be seen is whether the motorcycle we know as the LiveWire will keep that name or go by a new moniker. The brand’s new website, www.livewire.com, currently shows a black liveWire with the brand’s new logo on the “tank” and no H-D or bar-and-shield branding. The LiveWire brand’s Instagram and Facebook pages feature images of the bike in a new white color.
Discuss this story more at our Electric Motorcycle Forum
We also don’t know what other products will come from the brand, including whether they will include the previous electric concepts Harley-Davidson had previously shown.
We’ll have to wait for July 8 for more details.
Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
More by Dennis Chung
Comments
Join the conversation
2 predications 1/ That's the end of the live wire next recession. HD will do to it what the did to Buell, MV Augusta and Aermacchi. And 2/ I don't know how but HD find a way to make an electric motor unreliable and leak oil.
I'll buy one but they'll have to add the fake V-twin Harley sound. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...