Harley Davidson’s LiveWire releases a teaser for its upcoming electric motorcycle unveiling launch. Next week more details are to be revealed, that is on May 10th. LiveWire is an all-electric sub-brand of Harley Davidson, which has been working on its second model. The first one is its flagship LiveWire One electric motorcycle.
From investor documents and previous statements from the company, we’ve known that the upcoming model would be referred to as either the S2 or the Del Mar (or some combination), and that it would be a middleweight motorcycle. That likely means it will be designed to be more approachable to a wider range of riders, both physically and financially. The bike is likely to be somewhat toned down compared to the LiveWire One, which rocks an impressive 100 horsepower and a top speed that is electronically limited to 110 mph (177 km/h).
The upcoming LiveWire Del Mar, which signs point to as the likely name, would thus likely have slightly reduced power and perhaps a lower top speed, helping it compete more directly with middleweight electric motorcycles like the Zero FXE.
Video highlights
The video highlights flat track racing, which aligns with previous design sketches of a flat tracker-inspired motorcycle. Also, these design sketches are several years old at this point and so the final design of the LiveWire Del Mar will likely be significantly updated. But we do know that Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire division has developed a modular electric motorcycle platform known as Arrow that will allow the company to build several motorcycles on the same basic chassis, which can be seen in both the older design sketches and new patent images. So it stands to reason that while the aesthetics of the upcoming Del Mar may have changed.
Rolling out a more approachable and more affordable middleweight electric motorcycle is key to Harley’s larger goals of scooping up a dominant share of the electric motorcycle market, both stateside and abroad. The company has said that it expects to sell 100,000 electric motorcycles by 2026, which is a lofty target based on current figures and the company’s current lineup of one model, despite the model is impressive. ADVrider’s Mike Botan pointed out that a screengrab of a brief view of a bike in the teaser video (seen below) shows the rear of what could be the new Del Mar. A closer look shows that it definitely isn’t the LiveWire One due to the simplified swingarm, but it also doesn’t appear to match any Del Mar concept art or design sketches we’ve seen so far.
Opinions/predictions from – Electrek