Harley’s LiveWire Completes Historic Border-To-Border Trip

[Hugh Janus]

Diego Cardenas celebrated his 50th birthday and made history when he rode his custom LiveWire from the US-Mexico border to the US-Canada border last week. (Harley-Davidson /)

Despite their increasing acceptance in the two-wheeled world, electric vehicles constantly get the knocks. You know the main spiel: Range anxiety. Long charge times and inconsistent locations. Too expensive. Like it or not though, plenty of manufacturers have placed serious bets on electrics as the wave of the future, even if the only major manufacturer producing a mainstream model thus far is Harley-Davidson with its LiveWire (sorry, Zero). And H-D is trying to calm—or at least reduce—the anxiety about an electric motorcycle’s range, with the help of one Diego Cardenas.

The LiveWire can DC fast charge the battery to 80 percent in 40 minutes, but range being what it is, you still need a good charging network along the way. (Harley-Davidson /)

Here’s the backstory: California-based Cardenas was all set to celebrate his 50th birthday in June with good friends in Spain, but when COVID-19 threw a monkey wrench into the itinerary, he was forced to drum up a plan B. The new idea had to involve something he was passionate about, allow him to maintain a safe distance, and it also had to be utterly unique—you know, something to remember his 50th by. That something turned into a vague outline of a trip from the US-Mexico border to the US-Canada border. And he’d be riding his LiveWire the whole way. Cardenas could count all three boxes as checked if this wild journey came to pass.

RELATED: 2020 Harley-Davidson LiveWire vs. Zero Motorcycles SR/F Premium

Fortunately there’s the West Coast Green Highway, a solid network of consistently spaced charging stations running all the way up into Canada. (WSDOT /)

On the face of it, doesn’t seem like an electric motorcycle would be your best choice for that kind of distance, what with long recharging times and that whole pesky range issue, but Cardenas was counting on the West Coast Green Highway (or West Coast Electric Highway) to pull him through. Yeah, it’s a thing; the WCGH is a network of electric vehicle DC fast charging stations spaced 25 to 50 miles apart along Interstate 5 and other major roads in Washington, Oregon, and California, essentially connecting the three states (it continues north for a bit past Vancouver, Canada, as well). The DC charging would reduce stop times and the consistent spacing of the network would overcome any range unknowns (with fast charging, you can charge the LiveWire battery to 80 percent in 40 minutes and 100 percent in an hour), so Cardenas made preparations to set the plan in motion. 

“I wanted to be a part of Harley-Davidson history and have my future grandkids be able to talk about how their grandfather was the first H-D electric motorcycle owner to do such a ride,” Cardenas said. “I wanted to show the world that electric charging infrastructure is growing too.”  

Cardenas hit the Washington-Canada border on the LiveWire on June 30, just in time for his 50th birthday. (Harley-Davidson /)

The start of the epic trip came on June 22, when Cardenas juiced up in San Ysidro, California, and headed north, with his wife and 8-year-old daughter following along behind him in a car. One thousand four hundred miles and 9 days later, he reached the border town of Blaine, Washington, on June 30, which just happened to be his 50th birthday. 

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The trip was unbelievable,” Cardenas said. “The West Coast Green Highway is a really good idea, there are so many options that you can be confident you will get where you need to go. If you pull up and cannot use one charger, you have additional ones super close by. It’s awesome! This is so doable. If you have an electric motorcycle, or any bike, just get out and ride during these challenging times.”

The West Coast Green Highway (or more accurately, “Electric Highway”) situates its stations primarily off main north-south arteries, each approximately 30 miles apart. More installations are planned in the near future. (WCEH/)

That last part is definitely good advice, and we’d consider Cardenas’ trip a pretty memorable birthday activity too. If you’d like to learn more about Cardenas’ journey, check out this link, which also offers support for the EV motorcycle riding community.

Source

[Buckster]

That’s a two day trip for me with a petrol engine.

[Tym]

Thats a 3 motor trip on a KLR 

[Buckster]

12 hours ago, Tym said:

Thats a 3 motor trip on a KLR 

Two of which are on a trailer.

[alfalfa]

On 06/07/2020 at 15:21, Buckster said:

That’s a two day trip for me with a petrol engine.

and, 12 quarts of oil