Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Electric BikesNews

Harley-Davidson report $41.3 million in e-bike sales is just the start

As part of it’s yearly financial reporting, Harley-Davidson has disclosed that the LiveWire brand, which it launched in 2019 with an electric motorcycle of the same name, made $41.3 million from children’s e-bicycle sales across 2019, 2020, and the first 3 quarters of 2021.

With a clear push toward e-mobility, Harley-Davidson also has an e-bike spin-off called Serial 1. Importantly, Serial 1 is a serious undertaking, not a brand licensing exercise, with bikes showing distinct Harley design styling, and power coming from Brose motors.

Launched into UK dealers in September/October of 2021, the 4 bike range delivers a maximum of 250W with a range up to 105 miles. In short, everything you’d expect of an e-bike from a leading cycling brand.

The move to e-mobility is something which Harley-Davidson is uniquely well placed to make – the brands story starts in 1903 with the founders fitting motors into bicycle frames.

As auto manufacturers of the 4 wheeled variety also show serious interest in the future of e-mobility, it raise the question; ‘how long before we see e-bikes from auto and motorcycle manufactures sold alongside pure cycling brands, in specialist e-mobility retailers?’ The first signs of this may come in the more subtle form of auto industry OEM suppliers, such as Valeo, with their motor and 7 speed gearbox, launching ancillaries for traditional bicycle brands to utilise in their own e-bike products.

 

Image credit: Harley-Davidson