Harley spinoff LiveWire debuts US$15,000 electric motorcycle

LIVEWIRE, the electric motorcycle division being spun out of Harley-Davidson, introduced a US$15,000 model that costs roughly half the price of the company's first product.

The LiveWire Del Mar, built on a new modular electric platform, will go on sale in the US and Europe in the spring of next year, executives said Tuesday (May 10) at an investor presentation in Milwaukee. The original LiveWire motorcycle, which debuted in 2019, costs nearly US$30,000. Harley sold 500 units last year and has delivered 125 so far this year, chief financial officer Gina Goetter said.

Engineers lowered the bike's cost by developing a modular platform that will be used for future electric models, and by selling partially online and giving dealers a smaller cut of the transaction, Goetter said. LiveWire will develop even cheaper models to sell around the world using its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Kymco, executives said.

Harley said in December LiveWire will merge with the special purpose acquisition company AEA-Bridges Impact in a US$1.77 billion deal that will yield US$545 million to fund development. The transaction will close in the first half of 2022, Harley executives said. BLOOMBERG