CarBrandLogos archive · Bollinger · 2017

BollingerB1

An electric truck with flat glass, no curves and no interest in charming anyone.

Photo: Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Bollinger history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Bollinger B1, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Robert Bollinger started with a farm and a problem: nothing on sale was both a serious work vehicle and electric. His answer, shown as a prototype in 2017, was deliberately unfashionable — an aluminium-bodied mid-size SUV with flat glass, exposed fasteners, removable panels and a shape closer to a Land Rover Series III than anything then on sale. Dual motors drove all four wheels through a two-speed high/low transmission, giving it real low-range crawling ability rather than the single-ratio setup used by most electric vehicles.

Bollinger B1, rear left · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engineering ideas were sound. Portal axles gave large ground clearance, and a pass-through channel ran the length of the vehicle so long items could be loaded from the tailgate straight through to the front bulkhead. What Bollinger Motors never had was the capital to build it. The company pivoted towards commercial chassis cabs, was acquired by Mullen Automotive in 2022, and production of the B1 was postponed indefinitely. It survives as one of the more interesting what-ifs of the first electric truck wave.

Bollinger B2, front left · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance