This is the fun electric moped Harley‑Davidson designed and almost built
Sleek, street-legal, and brimming with potential, it was a concept that looked like the perfect entry point into urban electric mobility for youthful riders and city commuters alike. With Harley’s branding, a slick removable battery for easy charging, and design filings that showed a nearly production-ready machine, this could’ve been a breakout moment in light electric vehicles. But instead, it was shelved, leaving a gaping hole in a market that’s now bursting with demand for just this kind of ride.
The concept first surfaced in mid-2018, teasing a future of lightweight electric urban mobility under Harley’s storied banner. I remember it well; I was the one who broke the news nearly seven years ago today. As a young, fresher-faced electric mobility journalist, I could already see the coming wave of young riders who would flock to this thing.
Unlike the hulking powerhouse that was the LiveWire electric motorcycle that preceded it, this was a nimble, city-friendly ride, complete with removable battery, belt drive, comfortable floorboard, and inverted motorcycle front fork.
It was an instant hit, at least on paper. The media and the public alike adored it. So Harley moved forward. In early 2019, H-D brought a proof-of-concept to the X-Games, giving the world our first look at a small yet awesome electric Harley moped. Sure, it was a bit prototype-y, equal parts garage build and senior design project. But it was obvious that Harley’s engineers were going full tilt in their skunkworks department, and a real-life electric moped with a Harley badge was rolling around the crowds in Aspen.
R&D continued, and the company submitted multiple EU design patents by 2020, showing highly refined styling cues, an impressive belt-driven motor housing in advanced stages of design, and a slick removable battery handle that helped drop the battery right into the motor housing for a sleek appearance. It was all evidence that they were quite far along in their designs for a production-worthy vehicle.
Fast forward to 2021: In a big shakeup that drastically rewrote Harley’s electric plans, LiveWire was officially spun off as a separate electric motorcycle brand. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic threw extreme uncertainty into the supply chain logistics for building light electric vehicles, with the e-bike industry somehow simultaneously booming and in complete disarray.
The sexy little Harley electric moped soon quietly faded from view.
H-D no longer talked about it, LiveWire didn’t appear to pick it back up, and its digital trail essentially went cold.
But if you’ll allow me to beat this dead horsepower just one more time, I’d argue that the idea hasn’t lost its appeal – especially now. Today’s electric moped and light electric motorbike market is heating up, with riders increasingly opting for nimble, street-legal, electric two-wheelers.
Teens and young adults are flocking to light electric motorbikes and mopeds like Sur-Rons and Talarias, valuing affordability, simplicity, and urban practicality. Harley – or LiveWire – could’ve positioned this concept right in the sweet spot. In fact, I’d argue that if this moped existed now, plenty of young riders would prefer its relaxed and comfortable ride compared to a Sur Ron’s high saddle and off-road geometry (not to mention that Sur Rons aren’t even street legal).
Many have long bemoaned the lack of a cruiser option in the e-motorcycle market. Consider this the cruiser of the e-moped market. Relaxed yet capable. Comfortable yet powerful. It’s what everyone wanted, even if they didn’t know it yet.
A built-and-branded electric moped from Harley or LiveWire would have carried serious cachet, too. LiveWire would have been the right brand, free from the storied yet heavy legacy of its bar-and-shield parent company. Sure, LiveWire’s sales aren’t doing great right now, but that doesn’t appear to be brand-related. Marketing seems to be doing everything right, but for a company that is selling $17,000 electric motorcycles. Impressive bikes in their own right, yet unaffordable to their young target market.
To paraphrase, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him finance it.
But a $4,000 electric moped from a company like LiveWire, whose branding department feels like it’s run by the rare breed of millennials that are fluent in Gen Z – that could sell. They already speak the language. They just need to be armed with the right product.
And I really don’t think it would just be for nostalgic fans, especially not under a new brand like LiveWire. I bet that if you asked most anyone under the age of 25 today, they wouldn’t even know LiveWire was born in a Harley-Davidson boardroom.
And considering how approachable the electric bicycle market has made electric two-wheelers, a moped like this might have served as a gateway to even larger electric two-wheelers as riders age up. An electric moped in high school and college, then an electric motorcycle once they get a real job – talk about upward mobility!
The future was there. The market was just down the road. And with those now ghostly design filings showing a mature, nearly production-ready design, it’s clear the company had almost all the pieces in place. All that was missing was the final green light.
So why didn’t it happen?
Harley, then under financial pressure, prioritized the LiveWire electric motorcycle as its 100 mph+ high-performance e-motorcycle. It made sense. If you’re Harley-Davidson and you’re trying to go electric at a time when almost no one else has seen the electric scribbles on the wall, you’re going to have to impress. And a scooter, however fun it looks, doesn’t shout at the same volume. Moped concepts didn’t align with the bold “electric muscle bike” image they were shaping. Meanwhile, spiking development costs and supply chain delays likely pushed lighter, cheaper models farther down the priority list.
That’s unfortunate, because the current micromobility landscape is fertile ground for a brand-backed electric moped. Look around: E-moped startups – many powered by Chinese OEM parts – are booming, but few carry legitimacy or heritage, not to mention a nationwide sales and servicing network. Imagine a LiveWire-branded moped, street-legal, reliable, and backed by US customer support and parts. Suddenly, that moped becomes more than a novelty – it becomes a credible step into electric commuting for a new generation.
Even without ever making it to production, the concept made an impact. In 2021, I highlighted a Chinese company that ripped off Harley’s design, complete with low-slung battery and retro-modern styling. It was a surprisingly true-to-form imitation. Not a perfect clone, but close. And it was proof that Harley’s vision was both compelling and practical enough to inspire wannabes who were prepared to profit from a good idea. The Chinese were that one kid pointing at the other’s untouched lunch and asking, “You gonna eat that?”.
What they should have done
Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But here is where things should have gone.
Harley – or rather LiveWire– should have brought two versions of this moped to market. The first should have been a purpose-built light electric moped, designed explicitly for street-legal travel at either 30 or 35 mph (the two most common speed limits for individual US states’ moped-class vehicles). The second could have offered a higher top speed, perhaps 45-50 mph, and would be a motorcycle-class vehicle in nearly all of the US.
The former would have been fast enough for real urban commuting, but slow enough to avoid license and registration headaches in many states, or at least reduce them to something cheaper and easier to manage. And with more US states insisting on throttle e-bikes being limited to a true 20 mph, the extra speed of a 30-35 mph throttle moped would be a real differentiator. The second, higher-spec model would allow riders to hang with cars on faster roads while still keeping performance muted enough to allow modestly-sized (and modestly priced) battery and motor choice.
A removable battery, belt drive, LED lighting, and modular accessories would’ve made these things flexible and affordable, perhaps priced at around US $3,499 to $3,999 for the moped-class bike and perhaps $4,999 for the motorcycle-class bike. These two models would have been perfect for urban dwellers, campus life, and younger riders who wanted something more than an electric bicycle (which is why kids beg their parents for a Sur Ron), but it wouldn’t have been as intimidating or powerful as an honest-to-goodness motorcycle. The smaller model would have competed in price against a Sur Ron, been nearly as fast, plus be much more comfortable and have the added benefit of passenger capability.
And considering Harley’s model includes making a significant portion of profits from selling accessories (hmmm sounds like something else I’ve heard of… oh right, a local bicycle shop), there would have been ample room for fat margins from tons of cool accessories. Look no further than the cult of Super73 accessorizing to see how much young riders spend to turn their e-mopeds into one-of-a-kind rides. That battery compartment is also perfectly designed to allow different-sized batteries. The drop-in nature means you could upsell a taller battery with more range. Just like you can buy a 2Ah or 6Ah battery for your power drill, you could do the same with these batteries, keeping the purchase price lower and letting riders decide how much they want to spend on upgrades.
To its credit, Harley had actually teed this one up for itself almost flawlessly. It was right there, perfectly designed and positioned, waiting for that swing that simply never came.
To be fair, LiveWire isn’t completely ignoring the smaller end of the market. Or rather, they’re approaching it in their own way. We’ve been told that we’ll still get LiveWire electric maxi-scooters in 2026 via a KYMCO partnership. These big scooters will offer style and performance – but they’ll still almost certainly cost well over US $10,000. Meanwhile, that silent, fun-branded moped remains unbuilt, stuck in the concept archives.
If Harley or LiveWire ever reconsider, the timing has never been better. The youth are ready, the charging infrastructure is fully developed (hint: it’s the wall plug by your ankle), and consumers crave practical, street-legal light vehicles. Now, it’s time to revisit that vision – or let someone else pick up the torch.
Imagine boarding that LiveWire moped on your first ride, feeling the ease, the heritage, and the promise of what could have been. That’s an entry-level electric future we’re still waiting for.
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![Maximizing fleet efficiency and ROI with telematics integration [update]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/11/Daimler-North-America-semi-electric-trucks.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Even without clean fleet tax credits and cash-on-the-hood incentives, fleet managers are working hard to maximize their ROI on vehicle assets and reduce their total cost of ownership – and they’re increasingly turning to data‑driven telematics solutions to help.
Telematics use data gathered from sensors embedded in a vehicle to monitor its operations. When collected and interpreted correctly, that data can be used to improve fleet safety, boost operational efficiency, and enable predictive maintenance that reduces (if not eliminates) unexpected downtime. Those are real benefits, with some analysts showing up to 30% savings in repair costs even before you factor in the fuel savings from EVs that, according to MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp, will cover the added cost of a BEV in less than three years.
As you can imagine, that’s a big business – and the global market for vehicle telematic platforms is projected to reach an impressive $127 billion in the next decade, and the rush is on to get OEMs like Ford (through Ford Pro) and Volvo (who has a deal with Geotab) to integrate digital solutions into their vehicles.
We originally covered these topics back in February, ahead of the ACT Expo. You can read that original article, below, and let us know what you think of the OEMs’ telematics’
Last month, Geotab signed a deal with Volvo Group to integrate the manufacturer’s vehicle data API into Geotab’s telematics platform. It’s the latest in a recent onslaught of such deals between telematics providers and OEMs that begs the question: what’s in it for the OEMs?
Almost all modern cars and trucks are “connected” in some way. Ford, for example, began fitting the FordPass Connect modem on all its vehicles in the 2020 model year, and the vehicle (and driver) data gathered powers the Ford Pro fleet management platform and enables offerings like the company’s E-Switch Assist, which enables Ford fleet managers to identify which of its ICE-powered F-150 and Transit assets are ready to make the switch to EV.
“Smart tools informed by data like E-Switch Assist are opening up many new conversations with our commercial customers large and small about EV readiness; we’re already using E-Switch Assist regularly in consultations to help organizations determine if electric trucks and vans are right for them,” says Nate McDonald, EV strategy and cross vehicle brand manager at Ford Pro. “The importance of these tools and technologies goes beyond selling a customer a new vehicle—it changes mindsets about whether electric vehicles will work for their business while potentially saving them time and money.”
So, it makes sense for manufacturers to build that connectivity into their vehicles and makes even more sense to use that data connection to populate a fleet management dashboard that makes it painless for fleet managers to monitor their assets within a trusted ecosystem. Think Android vs. iPhone, and the pain that would go into switching from one to the other after a decade or so of constant interaction – because that’s how the OEMs are looking at it.
Why, then, would an OEM open up that data stream to a third party like Geotab?
The answer, presumably, is that that data sharing is a two-way street: the manufacturer’s are opening up their APIs to Geotab, and Geotab is sharing at least some of the data from other manufacturers with their industry partners.
And Geotab has a lot of partners:
- In 2019, Geotab began working with Ford to integrate Ford’s telematics data into its fleet management platform
- In 2020, Geotab began integrating with GM and its OnStar telematics in North American markets
- In 2022, Geotab began partnering with Stellantis’ Free2move car sharing brand, providing full telematics integration into the MyGeotab platform in North America
- In April of 2024, Geotab partnered with Mobilisights to integrate data from Stellantis’ European brands, including Opel, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, and Peugeot
- In September of 2024, Geotab announced a new partnership with VW Group Info Services aimed at improving the company’s data integration across its brands
- A deal with Rivian, VW’s partner in a $5 billion joint software venture, followed soon after
All of those players are convinced that the data coming from their vehicles can produce enough value to seriously impact fleet ROI.
Fleet managers seem convinced, too. In a recent McKinsey survey, nearly 57% of EV buyers said they were willing to switch brands in order to get better connectivity features. And, if you’ve ever worked in “a Ford shop” or “a Chevy shop” you already know what a huge that deal that number might be to an OEM.
McKinsey connectivity survey
In that point of view, working with a trusted, universal platform like Geotab who doesn’t have a dog in the vehicle sales fight makes sense. If the Ford Transit the fleet buyer is looking at plays well with their fleet auditing software and systems and the Nissan NV doesn’t – well, it doesn’t really matter if Nissan’s fleetail guy is giving you a better deal at that point. It’s just too painful to operate a second dashboard for one subset of assets.
The man-hours saved with a universal and brand agnostic fleet management platform may not be the easiest to trace all the way to the bottom line, but they’re there.
Additionally, the Geotab dashboard can be configured to collect and even analyze data that’s specifically relevant to EVs. Information like charging history, and regenerative braking efficiency, and overall battery health – data that, over thousands of vehicles, can give fleet managers real insight into how long the new electric vehicles they’re considering will last compared to the gas and diesel vehicles they have experience with.
Geotab research shows that EV batteries could last 20 years or more if they degrade at an average rate of 1.8% per year, as we have observed.
According to our data, the simple answer is that the vast majority of batteries will outlast the usable life of the vehicle and will never need to be replaced. If an average EV battery degrades at 1.8% per year, it will still have over 80% state of health after 12 years, generally beyond the usual life of a fleet vehicle.
Telematics integrations can also help optimize a fleet’s charging schedules, both by scheduling EV charging for lower priced, off-peak hours and by identifying the most dependable high-speed charging stations along regular routes to minimize down time for both vehicles and drivers.
Finally, these data-driven platforms can provide fleet managers tools for tracking and reporting things like carbon emissions and overall energy consumption, which can streamline ESG reporting processes and make it easier for the worker bees to get regulators, administrators, and managers the sort of charts, tables, and graphs they love.
Something like that, anyway.
You can check out my Quick Charge with Nate McDonald, EV strategy and cross vehicle brand manager at Ford Pro, who explores how Ford’s in-house telematics can help fleet managers decarbonize, and head over to Geotab to find out more about their brand agnostic fleet management dashboard, below. Enjoy!
EV or gas – which is right for you?
SOURCES: Fleet Europe, Ford Pro, Geotab, McKinsey; add’l links in article.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Geely-backed performance EV brand Polestar has had some troubling times in recent months, but its future is looking a whole lot better after the company secured a $600 million loan facility to help it keep on keepin’ on.
Despite vehicle sales picking up in 2025 on the strengths of the Polestar EV brand’s Swedish sensibilities, cutting-edge Chinese EV tech, and Volvo-aided safety specs, the company’s financial picture has been anything but rosy, with the threat of having its stock delisted from the NASDAQ looming large at several points.
In a vote of broader confidence and better times ahead, Volvo’s parent company Geely Sweden Holdings AB is backing the brand with more than half a billion dollars of fresh funding to extend its operational runway:
Polestar, as borrower, entered into a credit agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary, as lender, of Geely Sweden Holdings AB in relation to a subordinated term loan facility of up to USD 600 million, of which the last USD 300 million would require lender consent based on Polestar’s future liquidity needs. The term loan facility is available to Polestar for general corporate purposes.
The new funds are just the most recent part of a big week for Polestar – one that saw the Polestar 4 recently begin deliveries to its first North American customers, and recent upgrades to the Polestar 3 have made that car a viable V2G/V2x offering in Europe, as well. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that Geely wants to see how this all plays out.
The company has four models in its current line-up on sale in 28 countries, along with additional planned models that include the Polestar 7 SUV (set to be introduced in 2028) and the Polestar 6 coupe/roadster.
Electrek’s Take
Product-wise, at least, it’s hard to argue that Polestar’s future appears to be anything but bright. The new Polestar 3 crossover is a viable competitor to the industry-leading Tesla Model Y, and the upcoming Polestar 4 and 5 models seem like winners, too. To drive that point home, Polestar is promoting up to $18,000 in incentives to lure in Tesla buyers.
You can find out more about Polestar’s killer EV deals on the full range of Polestar models, from the 2 to the 4, below, then let us know what you think of the three-pointed star’s latest discount dash in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
SOURCE: Polestar.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Whether it’s to keep the lights on after a natural disaster or just to avoid peak energy rates, more people than ever are adding battery energy storage to their home solar systems — but li-ion batteries aren’t the only option. The new WATT Fuel Cell uses the natural gas connection your home already has to generate power when you need it.
Technically a solid oxide fuel cell, the WATT unit turns the natural gas in your home into electricity without combustion, relying instead on a chemical reaction between the natural gas and oxygen in the air to create an electric current in a way that’s conceptually similar to a hydrogen fuel cell, but that makes use of a more readily available (and far cheaper) fuel source to generate power while producing far fewer harmful emissions than a conventional generator.
How it works
The company’s latest offering, the WATT HOME system, recently achieved certification at a 2 kW power rating, marking an important step on the company’s commercialization roadmap as it races to meet market demands for a natural-gas-powered backup solution to guarantee uptime in outage-prone regions.
This week, the company marked another major milestone by installing the of its first 2 kW WATT HOME solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) at the Edward M. Smith National Career and Life Skills Development Center, Hope Gas’ new state-of-the-art training facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia – but the news doesn’t end there.
The company plans to take advantage of the new 30% ITC benefit (a federal tax credit that lets homeowners deduct 30% of the cost of qualifying clean energy systems, which now includes natural gas) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to help drive sales, with installations beginning in Hope Gas’ utility territory in Q1 of 2026.
“The WATT HOME system’s new 2 kW certification … validates the performance capabilities we’ve engineered for years and strengthens our competitive position as we move into multi-year deployment with Hope Gas,” says Caine Finnerty, WATT’s CEO and Founder. “With the ITC benefit, we anticipate accelerated adoption and substantial value for customers, utilities, and investors.”
The gas fuel cell can send power directly to the home’s panel, keeping the lights on directly, or perform the same function as a solar panel, sending power to a battery where it can be stored for later use.
Keep in mind, though – this isn’t a zero emissions option the way a solar + battery solution is. This is very much a fossil fuel-powered solution that gives off carbon and nitrous emissions, and the only reasons we’re talking about it are:
- the tech is kind of cool
- I didn’t know these existed
- it is objectively cleaner than a conventional ICE generator
That said, while solar is still the better solution in an ideal world, a WATT HOME fuel cell might be a better option in situations where rooftop space is limited (or nonexistent), such as condos or vertically-designed townhomes. In those scenarios, solar panels are unlikely to generate a meaningful amount of electricity, but a fuel cell that can tap into the buildings’ existing natural gas lines to provide reliable backup power if the grid fails.
That makes the fuel cell an attractive option for residents in multi-unit buildings, older historic neighborhoods with strict aesthetic rules, or any building where adding solar panels aren’t feasible, but a low-emission, low-noise backup solution is still needed.
The better question, then, isn’t is it better than solar – it’s is it better than solar for you? If you’re in West Virginia, you might be able to find out in just a few weeks. In the meantime, watch WATT’s own explainer video, below, then let us know what you think of the idea of a natural gas fuel cell in the comments.
Powering your home with a fuel cell
SOURCE | IMAGES: WATT, via PRNewswire.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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