10 Coolest Features Of Harley-Davidson's New LiveWire Electric Motorcycle

Harley-Davidson has established itself as the world's leading manufacturer of old-school, tough-guy motorcycles, but it has a problem. By the latter part of the 2010s, most of the riders who wanted a Harley had already bought one, and sales numbers were on a significant decline. Just like every other part of the transport industry, the future of motorcycles looks likely to be powered by electricity. But, launching an electric Harley would fly directly in the face of the loud, proud, and brash imagery that the brand had been relying on to sell bikes for decades.

Rather than try and change the course of the main Harley-Davidson brand, the company decided to launch a separate sub-brand called LiveWire. While the original LiveWire bike went on sale in 2019, it took until 2021 for the brand to become officially separated from the main Harley-Davidson line. Now, the newly-established electric bike manufacturer is looking to flesh out its lineup, and it recently announced a second model, called the Del Mar.

To entice those more cash-conscious urban riders, Harley-Davidson has said that it is targeting a $15,000 starting price when the Del Mar goes on general sale in 2023. However, a limited run of "Launch Edition" Del Mars was made available for pre-order, with a price of $17,699. It's critical that LiveWire gets the price point just right for this higher-volume motorcycle, as it will set the standard for what buyers expect from the brand's price structure in the coming years.

Set the price too low and the company risks devaluing the technology that powers the bike, which could threaten future profit margins if production costs increase (which, given the state of the energy market at the moment, seems quite likely). However, too high of a price will make the Del Mar just another novelty, out of the reach of most everyday riders. Harley has already admitted that it only sold 500 units of the LiveWire One in 2021, and it's going to need to shift an awful lot more than that if it wants to build a future-proof brand. Keeping the price to around $15,000 sounds like the right compromise, but it remains to be seen if that figure will creep up when the mass-market version is launched.

Every Del Mar comes with a motor capable of producing 80 horsepower, a little less than the flagship LiveWire One, which produces 105 horsepower. It might pack less horses, but the Del Mar's reduced weight should mean that performance isn't greatly impacted. Bennetts reports that the LiveWire One weighs 255 kg (562 lb), while the Del Mar will weigh "less than" 200 kg (441 lb), although so far, Harley has remained tight-lipped on the exact number. This reduced weight was partly achieved by integrating some of the bike's components, including the onboard charger, into a new unit that's mounted to the battery case, reports Engadget.

With the modular construction of the Arrow platform, it's plausible that a higher-powered version of the Del Mar could be released at a later date, with very little development needed on Harley's part. Although, this will likely be dependent on the reaction from customers, and whether there's any perceived demand for extra variants. As it stands, the 80 horsepower motor is the only option, and there's been no official indication that will change before the model's main launch in 2023.

Of course, longer trips won't really be on the cards anyway, as the bike's slightly underwhelming range of 100 miles means that it's really only good for suburban and city journeys. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the bike was compatible with DC fast charging, but it isn't. It can only be charged at Level 1 (110V/15A) or Level 2 (220V/30A), with no word from Harley yet on how long a full charge will take.

That's a shame, as the LiveWire One was capable of charging from 0 to 80% in just 40 minutes with DC charging, and from 0 to 100% in just an hour. It's presumably one of the sacrifices that Harley had to make to keep the cost of the Del Mar lower, but it does limit the bike's appeal among more time-strapped commuters. CycleVolta estimates that the Del Mar could take six or seven hours to charge from 0 to 100% on a standard 110V/15A outlet, so it'll have to be left overnight in most cases.

With its meager sales of just 500 units from 2021, there were some doubts over how much demand was out there for the LiveWire brand. But, it seems those fears were unfounded, as the limited-run "Launch Edition" of the Del Mar sold out in an astounding 18 minutes upon its release. A total of 100 examples of this $17,699 first edition will be made, and each one will come with unique paint and wheel designs. The bikes will be hand-painted by CPV, a process that reportedly takes five days to complete.

Two colors were available for the launch version of the Del Mar, either Comet Indigo or Jasper Gray. To really highlight how unique each example is, every unit will have its edition number painted onto the battery casing, reports Cycle World. Although every example of the Launch Edition was spoken for in record time, there's still no official word from Harley about exactly when the bikes are set to make their way into the hands of customers. Orders closed in May 2022, and at the time of writing, the only clue is that buyers can expect their new rides sometime in "Spring 2023," if all goes to plan.

While launching this new electric motorcycle, Harley-Davidson is also busy trying to figure out what to do with its iconic main brand. The entire point of creating LiveWire as a spin-off sub-brand was to avoid the stereotypes that are associated with the Harley-Davidson name, and the legal side of that process of separation isn't complete yet, according to a report from Jalopnik. Any complications could potentially lead to delays for both Harley and LiveWire.

The other issue facing the Del Mar and the LiveWire brand at large is the emergence of several key rivals. Emerging startup Zero has already made waves with its range of bikes, including the top-spec SR/F, which packs a similar amount of horsepower to the LiveWire One, yet has double the range. The 2022 SR also features the ability to charge at public EV stations, making it a lot easier to charge than the Del Mar for anyone who doesn't have a garage to leave their bike in overnight. Japanese rival Kawasaki is also looking to launch two new low-cost electric bikes soon, although not much is known about them yet. With an ever-increasing field of rivals, the Del Mar will have its work cut out to convince buyers it's worth the cash. It has the potential to be a strong seller on paper, but it remains to be seen whether the market will agree.