“It takes decades:” Harley-Davidson CEO promises long-term transition to all-electric

Even though it was one of the first big-name motorcycle manufacturers to begin going electric, Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz expects that the transition to all-electric will require “a long-term transition”.

Speaking to Dezeen, an influential architecture, interiors and design magazine, Zeitz said: “At some point in time, Harley Davidson will be all-electric. But that’s a long-term transition that needs to happen. It’s not something you do overnight.”

Harley-Davidson launched its first electric motorcycle in 2018 with the LiveWire – a brand the company has since spun off into a separate company.

But Zeitz doesn’t see his company ditching petrol motorcycles in the near future. “We are thinking: ‘how do we evolve if you think really long term’, as this will not be an overnight transition,” he told Dezeen.

“It takes decades, right? But you have to also think in decades rather than just thinking about what year and the short-termism that everyone is exposed to as a public company. We have to think about the transition and preparing for that transition is why LiveWire was born.”

Instead of an actual commitment to decarbonising its motorcycles, Zeitz doubled down on the brand’s history of evolution.

“If you look at the past 120 years, the company has always evolved, never stood still,” Zeitz said.

“Now, like the founders did at the time by trying to reinvent or invent something unique, that’s obviously something that we as a company brand need to do as well.

“What we’re doing is celebrating our past but also evolving the brand at the same time. It’s a natural evolution that needed to happen.”

Such evolutionary transformation will need to focus on reaching people who would not typically ride a large motorcycle, or those who don’t ride at all.

“I believe in big transformational change for iconic brands, which is what I’ve always done in my life,” said Zeitz.

“We are targeting different consumer profiles – you have the traditional core customer, but you have a contemporary core customer, you have dreamers that aspire to ride or may just dream about the brand.

“The brand is not just for inspiring for those who buy motorcycles, it’s inspiring for others, which is why we’re making such made such a big effort on apparel and accessories to really bring the brand to broader customer bases – customers that might or might not right one day.”

Read Nigel Morris’ latest travel story on its electric livewire here: An absolute hoot: Kicking ICE on an electric Livewire road trip