Harley-Davidson Revival: A student project that shows a rosy future
7.10.2020
Translation: machine translated
A student designs a Harley-Davidson. He not only looks back into the history of the motor company, but also into the history of electromobility. His Harley-Davidson Revival is a beautiful vision of the future.
Industrial designer Tanner Van De Veer is not an employee of Harley-Davidson. But the traditional company from Milwaukee would do well to keep a close eye on the designer. Or hire him right away. This is because Tanner has published a design study entitled "Harley-Davidson Revival", which pursues two goals:
- A fully electric motorbike
- The opening of the brand to other customer segments
This is an attempt to solve a problem that the company is currently facing: bankruptcy.
Ideas from the history of electromobility
Harley-Davidson already has an electric motorbike on the market, the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, which has been well received by the trade press and riders. The problem: with a price of "from CHF 36,500", it is too expensive for many. For comparison: the entry-level model Street Rod costs at least 8770 francs, while the cheapest Harley that screams Harley, the Softail Standard, costs 14,850 francs or more.
Tanner and his team at DAAPWorks want to counteract this with an affordable and cool electric bike. Theoretically, mind you, because Harley-Davidson will probably only find out about the student project through the media. The "Harley-Davidson Revival" project combines the history of technology with the present in terms of both design and realisation and looks to the future.
The centrepiece of the Revival ecosystem is the inspiration from the early years of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
Source: Tanner Van De Veer, Behance
From this, the designers created the Revival.
Source: Tanner Van De Veer, Behance
When it came to the design, Tanner and co. paid attention not only to the shapes but also to the feel. The handles are covered with warm, soft leather, the saddle with canvas-based duck canvas from Carhartt. Carhartt uses the fabric for jackets and trousers.
Not only is the feel of the bike, which has adjustable footrests, well thought out, but also the charging concept. Time and again, observers and fans of electromobility talk about a concept that is sometimes more, sometimes less en vogue: replaceable batteries. The concept works like this: You buy a vehicle, plus the battery as a service. When your battery is running low, you head to a charging station where your empty battery is replaced with a full one. This would solve the problem of long waiting times at charging stations. Tesla ended an experiment in 2016, without giving reasons.
Source: Tanner Van De Veer, Behance
Tanner Van De Veer takes up the concept again. At his "Harley-Davidson Power Centres", bikers can replace the battery of their Revival in just a few minutes. In the Revival's economic model - Tanner has thought of everything - the battery does not belong to the owner of the Revival. According to him, this reduces the purchase price of the bike and saves the rider having to service the battery. When changing the battery, the rider drives up to the Power Centre, parks their bike and a robot grabs the battery through a hatch in the floor.
Source: Tanner Van De Veer, Behance
Of course, the Revival also has charging ports.
A brief look at the crisis-hit group
While Tanner is proposing big ideas, Harley-Davidson is in crisis mode despite LiveWire and Street Rod. Ex-CEO Matt Levatich was dismissed at the beginning of 2020. He was replaced by German Jochen Zeitz, who has largely reversed the opening of the brand initiated by Levatich. The announced Street Fighter with the name Bronx has been postponed indefinitely, the group is pulling out of India and staff are being let go worldwide.
Source: harley-davidson.com
The focus is back on the customers who have been loyal to Harley for decades. Men. White. Old. Initiator Jochen Zeitz probably also realises that this has no long-term future due to obsolescence. That's why projects like Tanner's are likely to meet with great interest. Or they should. Hopefully.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
E-mobility
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