Michigan-based electric vehicle startup Bollinger has announced it will postpone the development and production of its consumer-facing vehicles in order to focus on its fledgling commercial vehicles business.
In a statement released this week, Bollinger CEO Robert Bollinger said the company has decided to postpone consumer-truck production and delivery indefinitely as it focuses more of its resources on the commercial and fleet side of its business.
“We started Bollinger Motors in 2015 with a dream and a desire to make the best trucks possible,” Bollinger said. “We’ve put countless hours of hard work and passion into making something that makes us proud. However, today, we’re postponing the consumer trucks’ development and shifting our focus to commercial trucks and fleets.”
Bollinger first showed off its utilitarian B1 electric SUV and B2 electric pickup truck in 2019 and detailed mildly improved versions of the vehicles last summer with more creature comforts and revised cabin dimensions. At the time, the company said its utilitarian vehicles would come standard with a 142 kWh lithium-ion battery pack providing an EPA-estimated range of around 200 miles, along with a dual-motor powertrain producing 614 horsepower and 668 pound-feet of torque. The company said this setup would enable the 5,000 lb B2 truck to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in roughly 4.5 seconds, with top speed limited to 100 mph. Prices for this consumer-facing model would have started at $125,000 – over $10,000 pricier than the opulent, 1,000 horsepower GMC Hummer EV Pickup Edition 1.
Last March, Bollinger unveiled a chassis cab truck that would serve as the basis of its various fleet-focused offerings. The company said at the time the chassis cab would be available in rear-wheel drive, dual rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive variants. The rear-wheel-drive and dual rear-wheel-drive models have a claimed maximum payload of 7,500 lbs, while the AWD model has a claimed payload of 5,000 lbs. All versions of the chassis cab also boast an estimated range of over 200 miles a maximum torque output of 850 pound-feet. Pricing will start at $70,000 for the single rear-wheel-drive model and will extend to $100,000 for the AWD model.
“The (Bollinger chassis cab) is an ideal option for municipalities, parks services, emergency response vehicles, airports, construction, landscaping, electricians, plumbers, security, non-tactical military, and more,” the automaker said last year.
Bollinger says it will soon begin refunding deposits for customers who’d previously reserved the B1 and B2. More details on its fleet business strategy should be divulged in the near future.
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Comments
It’s ridiculous those bogus judges let these clowns continue to make this straight rip off of a iconic Land Rover defender design.
Great competition for the Hummer, looks great!
That is one ugly vehicle
It’s a crude copy of an older Land Rover, but I couldn’t find anything about Land Rover suing over design.
They did and lost the case. The judge threw it out. Type in Land Rover sues bollinger.
Sorry it’s grenadier not bollinger. Either way this is a rip off to.
It’s just a box. They should be too embarrassed to say it was a copy of anything they built.
Turns out building cars is hard. I doubt this is the only startup that’s going to struggle with making something, EV or not
So they used Tesla stylists? This thing reminds me of a pickup from the 50’s that was basically just a square box, but can’t remember the brand.
I like how everyone on here is acting like they’ve never seen these before. I assume because most of the people on this site don’t actually follow the auto industry.
These were revealed years ago.
This is basically the, “these probably won’t actually be built” announcement.
This truck looks like something we might get if Crosley were mysteriously resurrected and started making electric trucks.
We’re going through a sorting out much like the early 20th century again where there were dozens of not hundreds of US car and truck manufacturers making niche products. Then came the great consolidation forced by the 1930s Depression and WW-II, reducing makers to the Big Three plus a a few also-rans like Studenaker. Tesla could still become the 21st century analog of Studebaker if GM, Ford and Stellantis can pivot to EVs (not especially likely at this moment). Tesla has quirky interesting products, but has yet to expand the breadth of its product line. The Cyber Truck and even more the semi tractor have apparently proved difficult to turn into actual products. Tesla’s situation is a little like what happened to Studebaker in 1963. Studebaker’s product offerings were good but quirky and just didn’t capture enough market segments. Too many resources were put into trying to produce the Avanti which was beset by quality problems with fiberglass from supplier MFG, and at the same time not expanding capacity for making mainstream products. Studebaker made postal vans and heavy trucks as well, sticking around for a few more years that business. What is different with Tesla is they have a huge pot of cash to build the giant facility in Texas while Studebaker was cash strapped and could not modernize its plant in South Bend, IN. Tesla models 3 and Y sales are strong, yet could Cyber Truck loom as Tesla’s Avanti?
Interestingly Studebaker was an early EV manufacturer, pivoting from their business of wagons and carriages in the early 1900s. An early product was an electric automobile, one of which was used to ferry politicians in a tunnel under the US capitol building.
What a goofy-looking truck. Looks like it was made for rainy day on Mars.
This just in . . . Bollinger Declares Bankruptcy. It’s only a matter of time . . .
Bollinger is probably better off just making commercial vehicles for the time being.
There will be new BEV startups like they are now and it will be interesting to see who have staying power and who don’t in five to ten years.