livewire, the newly-formed electric subbrand of harley-davidson, has just pulled the cover off of the new livewire one. an evolution of the previous livewire electric motorcycle, this new bike offers up more usability while also carrying an msrp much friendlier than before.
the livewire one is slated to start at $21,999, although a federal tax of $2500 will drop the effective purchase price below $20,000 for customers. that is significantly cheaper than harley's first livewire product, which carried a base price of $29,799. despite being a more affordable offering, the livewire one will provide customers with some advantages over the company's early effort. range is now expected to fall around 146 city miles, a marked improvement over the 110 city miles the previous iteration was able to achieve. no highway range estimates were provided, but expect that figure to fall below that 146 mile figure. livewire hasn't shared many technical details about the bike yet, though the range increase is likely the result of an upgraded battery.
speaking of the battery, charging the livewire one from empty to fully juiced will only take 60 minutes with a dc fast-charger. should you be short on time, livewire says a zero-to-80-percent charge can happen in just 45 minutes on the same dc charger. aside from fast-charging, other key features include a six-axis inertial measurement unit to aid traction control and abs.
ordering for the livewire one is officially open, although the new brand is taking a bit of an interesting approach. only 12 dealerships are authorized to sell the new electric bike, all of which are located in california, texas, or new york. more dealerships are slated to get access to the livewire in the future, though no word yet as to where those dealerships will be located. if you simply can't wait to peek around the livewire one, harley davidson will unveil the bike in person at the northern california international motorcycle show on july 18. we expect more information about the bike to come available at time, including performance figures and battery specifications.
the livewire one is just the first of several electric motorcycles harley-davidson is developing at the moment. while still pricey, the company hopes the new electric bike will spearhead its green efforts. there is no need for the v-twin faithful to worry, however, as harley-davidson has shown no interest in fully ditching gasoline quite yet. at least for now.
from: road & track