I think they need to take a cue from Tesla and make it all about the neat features that Electric vehicles can provide, such as quicker acceleration, no transmission, etc. Just my 2 cents anyways.
You can also design 2 wheel drive bikes! I honestly have no clue if it would be a good idea, but with electric power you can do that. It might be a death trap for all I know, but I think it would be really cool to have an all wheel drive bike.
The final advantage of electric bike is silence. That actually cuts both ways. You want to have a loud (reasonably) bike, so people notice you, and don't run you over. But riding full speed in near silence through a country road is quite surreal as well. Try getting your bike to 80+MPH on a backroad someplace, and kill the engine for a few seconds. It's quite an interesting experience.
Silent electric bikes would also be really awesome for riding in the woods. That way you can have some fun without annoying everyone within an ear range and scaring all the animals away.
Yamaha also made a two-wheel-drive racebike prototype. Don't remember the name.
It's pretty interesting to read the ride reports on two-wheel-drive bikes. The handling seems to make a lot of sense ...
The biggest advantage of an electric bike is probably less maintenance. If the drivetrain was sealed, you'd only have to deal with tires and brakes.
That said, electric bikes have some pretty big disadvantages. Battery weight forces them to sacrifice range or increase weight (or both). At least in the near future, electric bikes are going to be worse at handling, braking, and accelerating.
It's a shame, because I'd love to have an electric bike with the same range, power, and handling as my Ninja 250.
Apart from styling and green aspects I think they would want to focus on low maintenance benefit. Most electric will lack in power, weight and range compared to ICE.
IMHO - the styling is really where this wins. They seem to be shooting for a different sound than a traditional electric bike, but I'm not hearing it - perhaps it sounds better "in person". Quicker acceleration is not as large an issue as you might think as motorcycles already accelerate quite quickly (even 600-class bikes require careful throttle modulation to prevent wheelspin).
There aren't a lot of competitors in this space (Zero, Brammo), so it's a good time for H-D to throw their hat into the ring.
I also think the whole transportation industry is going to have to get over crashworthyness and move on to autonomous automatic crash avoidance. High speed trains are not crashworthy compared to traditional passenger trains. Efficient personal vehicles should not need to be crashworthy.
There's no actual logical connection between the two things.
I've always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I would enjoy not having to shift. Accordingly I may choose an electric motorcycle over a traditional one. And none of that has anything to do with whether I'll be a safe driver or not.
Logically it's absolutely no different than a driver preferring an automatic car vs a manual transmission car. It doesn't mean the person is going to drive faster.
So, basically, if you are afraid of bikes because they have shifters, but otherwise willing to learn, give it a try. I guarantee you that you'll feel comfortable shifting the gears on a bike and starting with the clutch on the first day. However, if you just don't want to learn because it looks like too much work, please, stay away from bikes, electric or otherwise.