How the LiveWire S2 Del Mar Costs Less Than LiveWire One

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How can the Del Mar be priced substantially lower than the LiveWire One without being substantially less motorcycle? It seems there’s more than one answer. (Morgan Gales/)

The goal in designing the Del Mar was to produce an attractive electric motorcycle at a substantially lower price than that of either the original LiveWire ($29,799) or its very similar replacement, LiveWire One, at $22,799.

LiveWire One weighs 562 pounds and the target for the Del Mar is 435 pounds, for a weight ratio of 1.29. If we place 200 pounds of rider, clothing, helmet, and some personal effects on each bike, the weight ratio drops to 762 635 = 1.2.

The LiveWire One was priced almost eight grand less than the original LiveWire, but still didn’t make that much of a sales impact. The even-less-expensive Del Mar is the next attempt. (LiveWire/)

Based only on the difference in city range, 100 miles for Del Mar and 146 for LW One, it would appear that Del Mar’s battery packs 68 percent of LiveWire One’s 15.5 kWh energy storage, or 0.68 x 15.5 = 10.5 kWh. But in fact, with 200-pound riders on both bikes, Del Mar’s all-up weight is only 80 percent of LW One’s. This might suggest that Del Mar therefore needs only 80 percent as much battery capacity as we first figured above, or 0.8 x 10.5 kWh = 8.5 kWh.

At present li-ion battery price is estimated at $132 per kWh, so this would give us a battery price in the range of $1,122 to $1,386 as compared to $2,046 for LW One’s big battery. This fails to give us the kind of price cut we’re looking for, but it helps.

Related: LiveWire Del Mar Launch Edition Photo Gallery

Cutting battery capacity, and therefore range, is an obvious way to cut costs. Doing so without hobbling the motorcycle either on the road or on the spec sheet is a delicate matter. (Morgan Gales/)

When many riders made rude noises at LiveWire’s $29,799 price, H-D evidently did some rethinking and in July 2021 announced LW One at $21,999, a price cut of roughly 26 percent. We can speculate that this price cut was H-D offering product at near cost in the interest of survival.

Now comes Del Mar. The first 100 sold are priced at $17,699, with later production to have a base $15,000 price. How do you achieve this further 22.4 percent reduction of $5,100 from the 2022 price of $22,799? The most simple-minded way to cut costs is to assume machinery costs multiplied by dollars a pound, and cut weight.

Back in 1965, machinery was a dollar a pound—a Cadillac weighed 4,500 pounds and cost $4,500. A Bridgeport milling machine was $1,650 and weighed 1,650 pounds.

Times have changed! We see that LW One is 562 pounds so it costs $40.57 a pound. If the makers hit Del Mar’s 435 pound target, at that price it should cost 435 x $40.57 = $17,646.91, which is close to the price of the Del Mar Limited Edition, the first 100 motorcycles produced. But to hit the $15,000 base, we have to find other cuts.

Since the li-ion battery is a major part of any electric vehicle’s price, we’re going to cut weight so we can manage decent performance with a smaller, less expensive battery, motor, and power supply. We accept that a less powerful motor cuts top speed from LW One’s claimed 110 mph to Del Mar’s 96. Looking for other cost-cutters, we give up LW One’s longitudinal Revelation electric motor and its expensive-to-make but pleasant-sounding right-angle gear drive with its gearcase, high-speed bearings, and seals; we then mount our motor’s shaft transversely, with direct drive from motor shaft to rear wheel by toothed belt.

Similarly, simplifying the powertrain is a balancing act between coast considerations and rider expectations. (Morgan Gales/)

There is further savings in using a single brake disc and caliper at the front, rather than LW One’s twin discs.

LW One carries the full suite of electronics we expect to find on premium motorcycles. Does Del Mar carry the same package or something less expensive? We await official answers.

We plan savings to be earned in future by creating a “platform” made by integrating the proprietary motor, its power supply, and its “structural battery” into a versatile unit that can become the basis of several future models (S3 is in design stage now) much as makers are now using versatile parallel-twin IC engines to power multiple models. Other steering heads or swingarms can be attached to this platform.

Although we don’t know the details of how the price difference was achieved, we can see that the numbers do make sense.

Another item struck off the LW One’s equipment list is DC fast charging; Del Mar can be charged only at Level 1 (110V/15A) or Level 2 (standard electric dryer outlet—220V/30A). LW One’s DC fast charging gives 0-80 percent charge in 40 minutes and 0-100 percent in one hour.

Although no info on Del Mar charging times has been provided, we can estimate. LW One’s bigger battery charges 0-100 percent on Level 1 in 11 hours, so we might, by straight proportion, expect Del Mar’s smaller (8.5–10.5 kWh) battery to charge 0-100 percent in 6 to 7-1/2 hours.

Charging times aren’t exactly exciting, but they’re another area where cost expediency and user expediency are learning to coexist. (Morgan Gales/)

We also have top speed figures: 96 mph for Del Mar, 110 mph for LW One. The horsepower required to achieve a given speed is proportional to speed cubed, which tells us that if Del Mar achieves 96 mph on 80 hp, then LW One should reach 105 mph. OK, fairly close but not a match.

In the long term, it can be argued that production systems for IC-powered bikes have been in existence long enough for their cost to be stable at a low value. The same can’t yet be said for electric bikes, so there will be future reductions as a production basis like the one that applies to IC bikes is developed for electrics as well. Achieving such economies of scale depends primarily on how many can be sold.

The success or failure of experiments such as this one will provide insight into whether or not the electric traction concept can be sold to mainstream motorcyclists.

LiveWire One/Del Mar Comparo

	S2 Del Mar	LiveWire One
Motor	N/A	Internal permanent magnet synchronous
Power	60 kW (80 hp)	78 kW (105 hp)
Torque	N/A	84 lb.-ft.
Transmission	Direct drive + toothed belt	90° gears + toothed belt
Weight	“targeting 435 lb. curb weight“	562 lb.
Battery	21700 format cells, structural case	15.5 kWh structural case
Tires, Front/Rear	19” Dunlop DT-1	120/70ZR-17 / 180/55ZR-17 Michelin Scorcher Sport
Wheelbase	N/A	58.7 in.
Rake & Trail	N/A	24.5°/4.3 in.
Range (city)	100 mi.	146 mi.
Range (combined stop & go)	N/A	95 mi.
Range (highway)	N/A	70 mi.
DC Fast Charge?	No	Yes
Charging, Level 1	N/A	0-100% in 11 hr.
DC Fast Charge	N/A	0-80% in 40 min., 0-100% in 60 min.
Price	Base $15,000, initial batch $17,699	$22,799
Performance	0-60 in 3.5 sec. or less	0-60 in 3.0 sec.
Maximum speed	96 mph	110 mph

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