I figure its the same reason Harley Davidson [1] is entering the market. To get their name out into an area not normally associated with the brand. It gets them positive spin an area where they are either ignored and ridiculed for their other offerings.
Plus it also comes down to throwing as many options at the wall to see what sticks. Harley has a large accessory and clothing setup already and dealers will need more than just sales of motorcycles. Rumor has it the corporate level is forcing dealers who want to carry the EV motorcycle; separate from the EV bicycles whose availability isn't quite known yet; nearly a hundred thousand for specific charging stations and layout.
It is weird that HD are targeting the electric mountain bike market as well. There are already incredible offerings from almost all the incumbent MTB manufacturers. It's a pretty established market, and HD has zero experience in making a good mountain bike whereas the incumbents have almost all had decades of it. It is a very nuanced field of engineering and their prototype looks 10x bulkier than existing products. Most E-MTBs look like normal bikes with a slightly thicker downtube, they are already that refined. I would almost say E-MTBs are the best offering from any range of e-bikes currently.
Maybe they were just dabbling with prototype sketches.
In regards to your comments main focus, it's facinating how much they lean on selling their brand versus their product. It almost seems as though they treat their dealerships like gym franchises.
Plus it also comes down to throwing as many options at the wall to see what sticks. Harley has a large accessory and clothing setup already and dealers will need more than just sales of motorcycles. Rumor has it the corporate level is forcing dealers who want to carry the EV motorcycle; separate from the EV bicycles whose availability isn't quite known yet; nearly a hundred thousand for specific charging stations and layout.
[1] https://electrek.co/2019/01/07/harley-davidson-livewire-e-mo...
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