Harley-Davidson Livewire to star in the next Avengers movie

Harley-Davidson’s first ever electric motorcycle, Project Livewire, was first spied on the set of the Avengers movie. Now, the company has made an official announcement confirming that the motorcycle will indeed make an appearance in the next movie, titled Avenger: Age of Ultron. 

Earlier this week, Harley-Davidson Livewire made its first public appearance at the 2014 Comic-Con at San Diego, as a part of a promotional campaign for the movie. Besides the Livewire, the Street 750, which was ridden by Captain America in Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will also make an appearance in the franchisee’s latest installment. The Livewire will be ridden by Scarlett Johansson, who portrays the role of Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow, while Captain America will be on the Street 750.

Speaking on  the alliance, Dino Bernacchi, the director of U.S. Marketing at Harley-Davidson Motor Company said, “Our partnership with Marvel continues to provide thrilling platforms to showcase our latest innovations to existing and new fans of the brand. Not one, but two bikes will be featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron - Project LiveWire and the all-new Street 750, which is now available at Harley-Davidson dealerships.”

The Project LiveWire is a single-seater motorcycle and has been styled looks radically different from the other traditional cruisers produced by the iconic manufacturer. The lightweight cast aluminium perimeter frame is wrapped around the battery pack and makes the LiveWire look tightly packaged and compact. Though the company hasn’t revealed any details about the powertrain, speculations suggest that the LiveWire will be powered by a three-phase induction motor with a power rating of around 74bhp and 70Nm of torque. The recharge time of the motorcycle is expected to be around 3.5 hours, which will help it traverse 85kms on a full battery.

It is quite obvious that the Livewire won’t suit the taste of Harley-Davidson’s traditional riders and the alliance with Marvel comics seems to be an attempt by the company to widen its customer base. The Avengers movie is quite a popular franchisee with a large fan following and this strategy will definitely work in Harley-Davidson’s favour and help it build the motorcycle’s image. Fans of the Avengers franchisee still have a long wait ahead of them as the Avengers: Age of Ultron will hit the theatres on May 1, 2015.