If you've been following the trajectory of Harley-Davidson's EV motorcycle brand, LiveWire, then you may have been bracing yourself for its sales and financial results for FY 2025. And you'd have good reason to do so, as it has consistently lost money since it was first spun off from its parent company in 2022.
Now, here's the part where I repeat what I said around this time in 2025: The good news is that, while LiveWire still lost money in 2025, it lost less money than it did in 2024. How much less? For the entirety of 2025, LiveWire posted an operating loss of $75 million, which is 32% less than the $109.6 million it reported losing in 2024.
Reported revenue is down slightly, at $25.7 million reported for the whole of 2025, compared to $26.4 million in 2024. That's a three percent drop, year on year, if you wondered.
What about actual motorcycle units sold, though? Those continue to climb, inch by inch. From January 1 through December 31, 2025, LiveWire reports worldwide sales totaling 653 motorcycles. That's a rise of seven percent over its 2024 whole-year figure, which was 612 EV motorcycles. Baby steps!
In a separate row of the spreadsheet, LiveWire lists information about its Stacyc electric balance bike sales numbers, as well. In 2025, it reports sales of 21,141 units for the entire year, which is a 15% rise over the 18,351 it reported selling in 2024.
So while it's not overwhelmingly positive news, the fact is that it is trending in a more positive direction than it has been. The question is, though, will it be enough? Say what you want about percentages; in real numbers, LiveWire reports selling exactly 41 more total motorcycles in 2025 than it did in 2024. Yet, it also notes that its revenue decreased slightly due to "the impact of new incentives introduced in Q3 2025." If you move more units but make less money, is it still a win?
There's One More Specific Stat That Needs Its Own Attention
In Harley-Davidson's Q4 & FY 2025 Results presentation, in its section about LiveWire, it includes a bullet point that reads
- #1 in retail sales of 50+hp EV street legal motorcycles in the U.S. for 2025.
As its source for this information, it cites a Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) report. Now, there's no reason to doubt this information, but there is a good reason to call it out as not being particularly meaningful. (Perhaps it's there because it's an easy win that looks good to investors?)
Why do I point this out? Because there simply aren't that many street-legal EV motorcycles sold in the US that fit that specification. I mean, I could very truthfully tell you that I'm currently the #1 moto journalist in my home office, but that doesn't really mean much since I'm also the only moto journalist in my home office right now, you know?
Anyway, Energica, as you may recall, got tanked by a private equity firm and auctioned off in early 2025. While that meant some folks could (and no doubt did) pick up remaining stock and parts at a deep discount, that move is only going to appeal to a very specific, tech-savvy and DIY-focused audience who knows and accepts that they might have to rely on their own enthusiast network to fix things that go wrong in the future, because there probably won't be any dealer support.
Granted, Energica is now currently in the throes of being brought back to life thanks to some Singaporean investors, but there's still uncertainty. Enthusiasts might still cautiously purchase one anyway (YouTube EV world traveler Marc Travels actually just picked up an Experia on his own dime), but a lot of people who might find Energicas intriguing, assuming they have the money to afford one, will probably still be waiting to see whether the company really does recover as well as they hope. (For the record, I hope that it does, but I can't tell the future any more than you can.)
That leaves Zero, which has been navigating the EV motorcycle currents for longer than either Energica or LiveWire. Now, Zero is a bit different as well, because while it does make a selection of street-legal motorcycles that make over 50 horsepower (in its S and DS lines), it's far better known for its dirt and dual-sport options. Both the FX line and the brand-new, low-cost XE and XB make under 50 horsepower, and while the FXs are street-legal, the others are destined for dirt.
Nominally, Verge began establishing a presence in the US in 2024, but its range starts at about US $30K, and for a variety of reasons, it seems likely to remain a boutique brand rather than the kind of bike you see every day on the road. Even if we lived in an alternate universe where there were far more EV motorcycles on US roads than there currently are, Verge would be like the occasional Lamborghini you see every once in a while, you know? It exists, but it's not now and isn't really intended to be a high-volume seller.
There are other street-legal EV motorcycles that are currently sold in the US, but most are under 50 horsepower. So again, if you narrow your category down by as much as this stat seems to do, it becomes functionally meaningless.
You could just as easily say that it's the top EV motorcycle brand starting with the letter L, and you'd also be telling the absolute truth. But to what purpose? And is anyone actually buying it?
