Harley-Davidson puts the brakes on electric bike

Image copyright Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson has halted production of its first electric motorbike after finding a glitch in its charging system.

The company began shipping the £28,995 105-horsepower LiveWire bikes to dealers in the US last month.

It says existing bikes are safe but must be charged at dealerships, which will take an hour, rather than using the lower-voltage outlets in homes.

Harley-Davidson told Reuters it had discovered a “non-standard condition”.

Once fully charged, the bike can travel 146 miles at low-speed.

Harley’s electric ride

• 2014: Harley-Davidson announces plans to produce an electric motorbike
• 2018: Details of the LiveWire are finally released
• January 2019: The bike becomes available for pre-order in the US
• April 2019: UK customers can pre-order the bike
• September 2019: The first bikes are shipped to dealers in the US
• October 2019: Production is halted

Last week, UK company Dyson announced it was scrapping a project to develop an electric car.

Despite initial plans to invest more than £2bn in the vehicle, the product was “not commercially viable”, it said.