Harley-Davidson’s standalone EV brand LiveWire might have taken its own sweet time with its plans, but it’s certainly doing things right. The electric bikemaker recently slashed the prices of the S2 Del Mar by $1,500, and next in its sight is an improved ownership experience once you bring the EV home. How, you ask? Well, by minimizing your dealership visits in the future!

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LiveWire Joins Hands With Airbiquity For OTA Update Capability

2023 LiveWire S2 Del Mar
LiveWire

To do so, LiveWire has partnered with Airbiquity, an established company in connected vehicle services, to enable OTA updates on its electric motorcycles. Though OTA (Over-The-Air) capability is nothing new, it’s an important addition to EVs and bodes particularly well for software updates without a dealer visit. Latest security software, instrument cluster firmware, performance upgrades–OTA functionality enables the manufacturer to send all this out straight from the factory to your EV, without a technician.

Plus, it also helps unlock optional ride modes, features, and more battery capacity. For example, if the S2 Del Mar doesn’t feature cruise control, the bikemaker can easily sell this as an optional upgrade and roll it out via an OTA update after you make the payment. Same goes for the battery capacity, as LiveWire could sell the Del Mar in a low-range, more affordable variant, with the option to upgrade to full capacity over the air. Another key application could be a subscription plan, but we’re just spitballing here and we’ll wait for LiveWire to confirm these.

Livewire Del Mar
Livewire

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What we can confirm, however, is that OTA will be a pretty neat addition. Not only will it minimize dealership visits for small software issues, but it’ll help LiveWire cut human resources costs. It also opens new doors for the bikemaker, and if a success, we expect to see similar tech on Harley-Davidson-badged electric motorcycles too.

2023 LiveWire S2 Del Mar - Details And Price

2023 LiveWire S2 Del Mar Full
LiveWire

Coming to the motorcycle, the S2 Del Mar promises a 59.6kW motor with 184 pound-feet–good enough for a zero to 60mph sprint in just 3.1 seconds. Meanwhile, the battery has a 110-mile city range (claimed), in addition to a 75-minute juice-up time (20 to 80 percent). This is topped by modern underpinnings and a likable minimalist design. The former comprises spoke-like alloy wheels, USD forks, monoshock, and beefy rubber, while the latter includes a Sportster S-inspired headlight, small tinted windscreen, and a monocoque-ish body.

For all this, LiveWire charges you just $15,499–a solid price if you consider it comes from an industry giant like Harley-Davidson. If interested, pre-bookings are open via the LiveWire website, but you will have to wait a while, as deliveries are slated to begin in July 2023. Not to mention, LiveWire also slashed its 2023 production capacity from around 7,000 units to a measly 750 to 2,000 units.