Alta Motors Ceases Operations

Cycle World has confirmed with multiple sources that Alta Motors has ceased operations. Employees were notified October 17 that as of 5 p.m. they were no longer employed. This comes on the heels of an announcement in August that Harley-Davidson had pulled out of investment in the company to partner in further electric motorcycle development.

Alta Motors had been well received by the motorcycling public, by raising the level of electric motorcycle performance, particularly in the off-road segment. No other electric motorcycle company had garnered as much praise from the press for its models. Cycle World reviews were positive of multiple models that continually progressed in capability.

After securing $27 million in funding June of 2017 and Harley-Davidson’s investment, the future looked bright for Alta, but dramatic reductions in pricing for 2018 Redshift models signaled all was perhaps not well. It was speculated that each model was being sold at a loss or negative margin, but that an increase in volume would eventually put the balance sheet in the black. With H-D money, the capital seemed to be there to get Alta to that point.

Alta Motors has not put out an official statement as of yet.

It has also been reported that Alta Motors will continue to seek funding. Perhaps a sale will resurrect Alta; it would be a shame to see the progress it has made in the electric space to go to waste.