Electric Harley-Davidson production halted

Harley-Davidson halts production of electric motorbike over charging problems, in blow to revival plans.

Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric motorcycle.

Harley-Davidson has stopped production and deliveries of its first electric motorcycle after discovering a problem related to the vehicle’s charging equipment, a major setback for a product the company is counting on to rejuvenate sales.

The motorcycle maker said it has suspended production of the LiveWire model as it conducts tests to investigate the problem. The company said the tests were progressing well but didn’t say when production would resume.

Harley is banking on the electric bike to help jump-start sales in its core US market. The company in July cut its forecast for motorcycle shipments and reported weaker results in its latest quarter.

“This is disappointing for all of us,” Michelle Kumbier, the company’s chief operating officer, wrote in a memo sent to dealers last week and viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

TEST drive: more Star Wars than Easy Rider

The company asked customers and dealers to only use a professional type of charger available at its dealerships rather than electrical outlets at their homes.

The company said the bikes, with a suggested retail price of $US30,000, are still safe to ride.

LiveWire owners had been able to charge their bikes through standard wall outlets at their homes, a process that takes about 10 hours. Direct-current charging stations at Harley dealerships can reload the bike’s battery in about an hour. The bike can handle about 225km of urban riding on a full charge.

Car and motorcycle makers have invested heavily in developing battery-powered vehicles. But broad adoption of electric motorcycles is expected to be tempered by the high cost of the bike batteries, limited range before they need to be recharged and charging times themselves.

Harley has been working to increase the number of charging stations available across the country. It has partnered with Electrify America to give Harley riders 500 kilowatt-hours of free charging time, and it has added stations at many dealerships.

Questions also remain about the durability and reliability of electric motorcycles. Harley’s gasoline motorcycles can last decades. As a result, many are also available on the used market, potentially creating competition for the expensive new electric bikes.

Dealers have said that charging so much for the LiveWire leaves it vulnerable to losing sales to lower-priced competitors in the nascent electric-motorcycle market.

Harley said five years ago that it would build the LiveWire and has since put the bike at the centre of its attempts to appeal to a younger, more diverse crowd of riders.

Harley is facing declining revenue in the US as its core group of riders ages. In response, the company is introducing new models of bikes, including the LiveWire, and looking abroad.

The LiveWire. Questions remain about the durability of electric motorbikes.

Harley has said it wants to grow its international sales of all bikes -- both traditional and electric -- to 50 per cent of annual revenue by the end of 2027. In 2018, 42 per cent of Harley bikes went to dealers outside of the US.

Analysts said Harley needed a smooth rollout of the electric bike after years of disappointing sales for new models.

“It’s just a bad look for a company that has struggled for years to get their house in order,” said James Hardiman, an analyst for Wedbush Securities.

Mr Hardiman estimated that Harley is building a first run of up to 1600 LiveWire bikes, less than 1 per cent of the number of motorcycles that Harley shipped globally last year.

Harley had planned to deliver the LiveWire to dealers in August. However, it delayed deliveries to early this month when a smaller number were distributed to dealers, according to Mr Hardiman.

Harley said it isn’t yet releasing sales or production numbers for the electric bike.

The company is distributing the LiveWire through a select group of about 200 dealers, mostly in urban areas where executives believe it will attract the most interest -- and where Harley is eager for new customers.

Brent Laidlaw, an owner of a Harley dealership near Los Angeles, said he has received one LiveWire that he won’t sell until the charging problem is resolved. Despite the delay, he said he believes the electric model will draw more potential customers to his store.

“I’m excited about it,” he said.

Wall Street Journal