As Bird, Lime and other electric scooter companies battle to dominate the on-demand scooter space, Harley-Davidson may join the crowded field as it eyes a potential scooter product of its own.
Harley-Davidson is examining the sharing economy, and what role it could play, by potentially offering an improved solution to today's electric scooter options, according to CNN.
"It's a huge opportunity," Marc McAllister, vice president of product portfolio at Harley-Davidson, told CNN. "For people who are using Bird and Lime today, how do we give them a much better experience with a Harley-Davidson brand and lifestyle?"
Harley-Davidson has put increased focus on electric vehicles as its motorcycle sales have taken a hit. In January the company announced details on its first electric motorcycle, called LiveWire, which costs $29,799 and expects to go on sale in August 2019. The Motorcycle will go from 0 to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds and travel around 110 miles on a single charge.
Later that month, Harley-Davidson introduced two prototypes of electric bikes that more closely resemble bicycles. The company didn't release many details on the prototypes, but they're expected to cost less than LiveWire and won't require a motorcycle license to ride.
And this month Harley-Davidson acquired StaCyc, a California company that makes electric two-wheeled bikes for kids.
Harley-Davidson has yet to release any images or other details of what a Harley scooter might look like.
If Harley-Davidson were to jump into the on-demand scooter wars, it would join a group of heavily funded startups that are looking to solve "last-mile" transportation needs for city dwellers. Lime raised $310 million in February and is now valued at $2.4 billion. Bird has raised more than $400 million to date and is valued at $2 billion.
Uber has a line of e-scooters through Jump, a mobility startup it acquired last year. Lyft is also testing its own line of scooters. And there are others: Spin (which is owned by Ford), Scoot, Skip and a host of upstart brands in countries around the world.
It's also possible that a Harley-Davison scooter might not compete directly with Bird and Lime, opting instead for a higher quality bike that it could sell directly to consumers, rather than offering something on-demand.
