Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire brand is getting an $89 million boost as it tries to turn its EVs from a niche product into business that exceeds 100,000 units per year.
The Biden Administration announced its plan to help boost U.S. electric motorcycle production as part of larger initiative in a July 11, 2024, news release.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says on its website that as part of a federal plan to strengthen domestic electric vehicle production, Harley-Davidson’s York, PA is receiving grant money to expand its 650,000 sq. ft. facility in Pennsylvania for EV motorcycle manufacturing by incorporating new paint and assembly equipment, retaining and re-training its over 1,300 union workforce and hiring over 125 workers and pledging community and workforce enhancements.
Harley currently builds three EV models in York: the LiveWire One, the S2 Del Mar and the recently introduced S2 Mulholland.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) calls Harley-Davidson one of America’s “iconic manufacturers,” saying in a news release, “this funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will ensure it will be able to continue leading the global market in the years and decades to come.”
The DOE says that Harley will increase “increase production of existing LiveWire EVs and begin commercially producing additional Harley-Davidson and LiveWire branded EVs.”
Harley currently markets its LiveWire EVs as a separate brand and has raised additional capital by spinning the brand off through a SPAC offering, although Harley still owns the vast majority of LiveWire shares and still builds the EVs at the York plant.
LiveWires are sold at many Harley-Davidson dealerships in addition to some standalone LiveWire locations.
The DOE said Harley’s manufacturing process will “incorporate components from two Harley-Davidson owned, unionized facilities in the United States, specifically, electric powertrain units from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and fabricated and painted bodywork from Tomahawk, Wisconsin. As such, in addition to the York County job creation, Harley-Davidson will continue to employ highly skilled, unionized workers in Wisconsin to directly support the Company’s EV expansion efforts.”
Sales of LiveWire EVs have been modest. LiveWire Group, Inc. reported it delivered 117 LiveWires in the first quarter of 2024 with a net loss of $23.4 million, although the company said that loss was expected due to investments.
LiveWire is projecting EV motorcycle sales of between 1,000 and 1,500 units for 2024. In 2022 Harley-Davidson said it planned to build more than 100,000 EVs a year by 2026.
LiveWire’s Q2 2024 call is scheduled for July 25, 2024.
