I’ve now officially started my highway testing on the electric Livewire and I have a 420km road trip under my belt.
An invitation to Wingello in the Southern Highlands of NSW to visit a fellow EV and solar owner for a video shoot was the perfect excuse to stretch the Livewires legs, and I didn’t have to be asked twice.
The various EV route maps make it pretty easy to find chargers and there are just enough at just the right distances for my bike, according to calculations.
Of course, this is the point of testing in the real world because I know from experience that theoretical range can be significantly affected by stuff. Would the chargers work? Would they be available? Would I even make it?
I am crazy about electric motorcycles but I am well aware that physical size limits battery capacity, which in turn limits range. The theory I have is that the ability to DC Fast Charge (DCFC) helps overcome this limitation, albeit by requiring more frequent stops and a little good fortune.
If I’m honest, in my younger days clocking up 600-1000km per day was exciting, and despite its capabilities the Livewire is neither made for this. Nor do I aspire for so many hours in a saddle. If that’s your game, the Livewire isn’t your bike. However, if you prefer a slightly more leisurely pace and shorter ride days then it is very much achievable.
Motorcycle touring on long straight roads is a funny thing. You’re completely exposed to the elements, your helmet-weighted head gets buffeted constantly like a bobble doll and you’re kind of locked in to a position without the flexibility to wiggle around or change position much.
As a result (and if you are out of practice like me) it takes a while to Zen your way through the discomfort. For many this is just dumb, but the feeling of freedom, being connected to the elements and the sense of accomplishment from overcoming the challenge is addictive.
My first leg was a 120km run to Picton. Starting with a 50km cross town run at city speeds is terrific for economy, so I knew I had a good buffer by the time I hit the freeway.
I have to say, the Livewire with its sports cruiser stance is pretty nice for touring. The bike felt planted, comfortable and didn’t suffer from being buffeted around by the endless stream of trucks at all. You’re quite exposed with no screen and pretty wide handlebars, but it felt right at home.
The steady climb to the Southern Highlands was uneventful and I took full advantage of the cruise control to relax and adapt. I played around with my power settings, tuned into a podcast and frankly just revelled in the fact that my all electric machine was beautifully and serenely replicating a ride I’ve done so many times before.
I arrived in Picton after one and a half hours thanks to city traffic ready for a break with a very comfortable 35% in reserve. I found my solitary friend, the NRMA DCFC tucked away in a car park off the main street, wonderfully vacant and I was charging in anger in no time with an ETA of 40 minutes to 100%.
By the time I’d had a snack and stretched my legs I was getting close to full and started gearing up again and knowing my next leg was only 95Kms, confidently unplugged at 80% after around 25 minutes, and hit the road.
The next leg saw me hit the big gradients and headwinds and I watched my range decrease faster this time. Again, I hit cruise mode, flipped her into Eco mode and just bombed along. When I hit the turn off the Wingello I had around 20% left and finally some winding country roads to enjoy for the 15km run to my friend’s house where I arrived with 12%.
I plugged my bike in, this time using the bike’s on board 1.5kW AC charger and went about my day. The small capacity of the onboard charger is the one thing I don’t like about my Livewire, but I do understand it. Again, physical space limitations are a major culprit but I can’t help thinking this was a missed opportunity by Harley.
DCFC is becoming common but there are locations you just can’t access it, and I think an adjustable 3kW charger would make a material real world improvement. In rough terms if you are hitting the highway in poor conditions a 1.5kW charger only provides around 10km per hour which is just painfully slow.
However, I knew this was going to be the scenario and that a DCFC was only 40kms away so by the time I’d hit around 45% and filming was complete, I headed off. I judiciously chose the slower back roads rather than the highway which made for a longer day but more fun.
I also reminded myself that sitting on or just under the speed limit was a painful but positive upside of electric motorcycle ownership. Where I might have wrung her neck and pushed the boundaries a bit on a petrol-powered machine, I just adjusted to enjoying the ride at a slightly more leisurely pace.
When I arrived at Mittagong I had a comfortable 20% remaining, which perfectly positioned me for a rapid charge. But oh no – the solitary DCFC CCS 2 plug was in use and the clock showed 45 minutes to full.
This is where the lack of chargers can catch you out. I started texting and recalculating to let my family know I’d be a bit behind schedule and found a shady tree to make some calls and check my emails.
Not 10 minutes later however, a very excited EV owner turned up wanting to talk about the mysterious Livewire he’d heard about. Turned out, he was convenience charging and insisted I plug in while he went shopping, “just plug mine back in when your done”. EV charging etiquette at its best!
It was also here that I noticed the promotion for a neat app called “Need to Charge ” which allows you to message other (registered) users to see how far away they are.
I calculated that I would need at least 90% to make the 130km run home from Mittagong, all things being equal which was around 35 minutes of charge time. Blessed be the DCFC, for delivering me! By the time I was geared up I just over 90% and on my way again.
I settled back onto the highway and again set Eco cruise control mode, feeling tuned in to riding after a good day in the saddle and knowing I had a downhill run to Sydney.
Consumption was pretty good but as I approached the outskirts of Sydney I noticed a windsock at full tilt against me on a passing runway. I realised I was going to be cutting it fine if the wind didn’t abate – which it didn’t.
Frankly, with DCFCs popping up on my map this wasn’t a problem it just took a bit of thought. I decided that the East Gardens Shopping Centre just to the east of the city was worth a quick stop and after and hour and a half I was ready for a break anyway.
I pulled into the very impressive array of five fast chargers with around 20% left and watched the gauge on the charger ramp up to 20kW almost immediately. These chargers attract a cost of around $0.35c per kWh, my first pay to use charge for the day but for the total convenience and roughly $5 to fill up from empty to full, its cheap and simple.
I only needed a small charge to be 100% confident of making it home so I ducked upstairs, grabbed a drink and came back down to the carpark. In the 10 minutes that it took to do that, I was at around 40%; I blinked and realised I was done. By the time I got all my riding gear on it was almost at 50% and I had the heart-warming glow of range comfort.
The cross town final leg was uneventful and the Livewire gently sipped electrons until I pulled in to my garage having done 420kms in a day for a total cost of $1.39c.
Although I took a bit longer and had some luck, ultimately I had a blast and toured in almost the same way I would have on any other bike the only difference being I had to take a few breaks. I can not only live with that, I’m still excited that it’s even possible in my lifetime.