- the startup electric-utility-vehicle maker debuted its b1 suv and b2 pickup in the detroit area today, but they're still considered prototypes.
- there's more trim on the vehicles than when they were last seen, and the specs have been tweaked a bit, but no word on any on-sale date.
- bollinger claims to have 30,000 people on a (no obligation) waiting list for the evs.
bollinger motors first debuted the look of its boxy b1 and b2 electric vehicles at a glitzy event near times square in new york city in 2017. for the reveal of the beta prototypes—a step the company says is a "major milestone" on the way to actually producing the vehicles for sale—the company chose a more working-class location: ferndale, michigan, not too far from detroit
bollinger plans to build the two class 3 electric trucks in the detroit area and says it already has over 30,000 no-obligation reservations. the new beta prototype versions of the b1 sport utility truck and the b2 pickup truck show evs that are slightly more refined than what we've seen for the past two years, but generally the same vehicles. the square corners are still everywhere, but there's more trim around the windows, and the position of the door locks has changed. the grille-free front end remains, as do the three windshield wipers, but the trim around the headlights has been changed to include more of a screened look.
new specs for the b1 and b2 released to coincide with the reveal show only minor changes from what the company has announced before. payload capacity, for example, is now listed as 5201 pounds, whereas it used to be 5000. torque numbers are now the same for each vehicle, at 668 lb-ft, even though bollinger's earlier specs for the two vehicles were slightly different (688 lb-ft for the b2, 668 for the b1). the trucks go from zero to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and have a top speed of 100 mph thanks to a dual-motor powertrain that offers a total of 614 horsepower. off-road utility is met by 15 inches of ground clearance (variable between 10 and 20 inches) and high- and low-range gearing, but the company says the vehicles will be road legal throughout the world. the evs will have an estimated epa range rating of 200 miles from a 120.0-kwh battery pack.
bollinger founder and ceo robert bollinger said in a statement that these two new beta prototypes represent his vision of reinvented trucks, not just electric trucks. "it was time we did something new," he said. "i just wanted to build the best truck without compromise."
