EV startup Bollinger 'indefinitely' delays its rugged electric trucks to focus on delivery vans

Michigan-based startup Bollinger announced today that it is shelving its plans to build an electric truck to focus on commercial delivery vans.

Bollinger burst onto the scene several years ago with a pair of rugged, box-like electric truck prototypes: the four-door B1 (which is shaped like a Jeep Wrangler) and the B2 (which is taller and has a pickup bed). ). Facility). Is). It is the latest EV startup to run into speed constraints as it attempts to build a complex vehicle manufacturing business from scratch.

Bollinger has already delayed both vehicles, so his postponement may not come as a big blow to spectators. The trucks were originally scheduled to go into production in 2020, but that date was moved to the end of 2021, with several thousand expected to be built in early 2022.

Now, the vehicles will be "indefinitely postponed" as the company focuses on electric delivery vans, Bollinger CEO Robert Bollinger said in a statement. The company will refund the deposits of customers who had earlier kept less money to reserve B1 and B2 trucks.

“In order to focus on business development, B1 and B2 have been postponed indefinitely,” he said. "Since these trucks are dear to my heart, I will say never. If our continued growth in the commercial sector allows us to return someday, no one will be happier than me. But there is no timeline for that."

The Deliver-E electric van, which was announced in 2020, is to be built on a variable vehicle platform that allows multiple battery sizes, such as 70 kWh, 105 kWh, 140 kWh, 175 kWh and 210 kWh. This will mean that customers will have a wide variety of range options, prices and wheelbase sizes to choose from. The front-wheel-drive platform will be tailored to fit Classes 2B, 3, 4 and 5.

Bollinger declined to confirm the van's initial date of production, noting that the company is still looking for a manufacturing partner. "The Deliver-E van was our interpretation of a body type to be placed on an electric platform," he said. "We didn't intend to make that body, but we are now in talks with Upfitter partners who make truck and van bodies."

If it eventually moves from concept to production, the Deliver-E will have a lot of competition. General Motors is already shipping electric vans under its Brightdrop brand to customers like FedEx and Walmart. Mercedes-Benz has several models on the road, and Ford plans to go into production this year on its electrified e-Transit van.

Amazon, which has a fleet of thousands of combustion-engine vans running its mass distribution operations, has ordered 100,000 electric vans from EV startups Rivian (in which it is also heavily invested) and Stelantis. There are also plans to buy electric vehicles. ,