Harley-Davidson—a brand that has embodied freedom, excitement, and rebellion, for over 100 years. There is no mistaking the sound and subsequent feeling of a V-Twin Harley going down the road. Today, Harley faces one of its biggest challenges in the last century. Like most of the automotive industry, Harley Davidson is moving towards an all-electric future. Although it has sacrificed its signature rumble for its electrified destiny, it has created one of the most exciting new motorcycles to roll off an assembly line.
The first fully electric model in the brand’s lineup is called LiveWire and is the first EV motorcycle to come from any major international manufacturer. This electron-powered Harley is quite a departure from bikes of old, but where it lacks in traditional curves and noise, it makes up with its silent, rocket ship-like power, street-fighter looks, and remarkable nimbleness. It looks and feels like a bike that belongs to Tony Stark. Once you ride LiveWire, it makes everything before it seems prehistoric.
To bring the LiveWire into existence, the engineers at Harley-Davidson had to throw out the rulebook and design an electric motorcycle from the ground up—something that has never been attempted by any large-scale motorcycle manufacturer. They would be the groundbreakers and tasked with producing the most technically advanced Harley-Davidson ever made. To achieve that feat, the engineers sought new design partners, vendors, and manufacturers that were well established in the EV space to help bring the LiveWire to life. That’s when we got the call.
Pacific Transformer was brought in to design and build the magnetics needed for the bike’s complex charging system. For Harley, it was critical that the bike could use the same charging infrastructure that the majority of car companies have adopted. This meant the bike needed to have a standard J1772 & CCS combination connector for level 1, level 2, and high-voltage DC fast-charging. Unsurprisingly, our engineers were able to develop a powerful yet compact solution to meet the requirements critical to keep the barrier to entry as low as possible.
We are incredibly proud to have played a small role in bringing LiveWire into existence and hope you get a chance to check one out at your nearest Harley-Davidson dealer.
If you want to see LiveWire in action, check out the Apple TV+ original docuseries, “Long Way Up” where a film crew follows actor Ewan McGregor and his best friend Charly on a 13,000-mile through 13 countries, starting from the city of Ushuaia at the tip of South America and ending in Los Angeles all on their Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles.
