zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Tech
/
I Hope Bollinger Can Pull This Off
I Hope Bollinger Can Pull This Off-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:32

Image for article titled I Hope Bollinger Can Pull This Off

Bollinger’s electric SUV and truck have been , and still not yet in production but also still edging ever closer to getting there. Bollinger’s ultimate plan is to do low volume vehicles at six-figure prices and I like it in large part because it has been doing all of this without the bombast of a Lordstown Motors, a Nikola, or a Tesla.

This is mostly because Bollinger doesn’t want to be Rivian, Lordstown Motors, Nikola, or Tesla. Its aspirations are smaller and feel a bit more focussed. The B1, its SUV, and the B2, its truck, both feel like the culmination of a singular vision, which is rugged but electric, big but practical, and .

Contrast that with the Tesla Cybertruck, which feels like and still might be vaporware; or , which really, really might be vaporware; or , which also has a high chance of being vaporware; or , which is probably real but aimed more at higher volumes and destroying the Cybertruck, should that competitor ever emerge.

And while the B1 and B2 could also still be vaporware, this company has been around since 2014 and has already passed a number of milestones lesser startups never reached.

, it’s about to pass a few more:

Company founder Robert Bollinger, a former advertising executive who made his fortune in the cosmetics business, has been providing most of the funding for the company up to this point. However, he told Automotive News he is close to reaching two significant milestones: securing investment to take his three vehicles to production and inking a deal with a contract manufacturer to build the B1 SUV, B2 pickup and a chassis-cab model for commercial use.

And it’s been doing this with a slow-and-steady strategy that is very upfront about being for a very particular type of buyer.

The company plans to be profitable from the start by keeping its vehicles expensive and exclusive, with production capped at 2,000 to 3,000 units per year, Bollinger said.

“We’ve been very honest in that we are going for low volumes and the price point [$125,000] is high,” Bollinger said last week during an impromptu tour of the company’s new facility. “I’d rather make hundreds to thousands of vehicles and succeed than say we are going to have to make 100,000 vehicles before we are profitable,” he said.

Automotive News then quotes an analyst who calls this plan “nearly impossible,” and normally I would probably agree, given . But if nothing else this will probably be one of the first real-world runs of a manufacturing strategy that is the opposite of Tesla, which aspires to build everything in-house.

Similar to , Bollinger is going to farm out the production of the B1 and B2 to third parties, which can mean lower costs for Bollinger since it won’t have to build a plant and staff an assembly line but also—or so the conventional wisdom says—possible build quality questions in the end product. It’s also probably Bollinger’s only choice since it is priced out of the alternative, but I hope this works out. We’ve at this point that it would be a bit sad to not also see it cross the finish line.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Tech
GM's Super Cruise Range Enhancement Hits Its Biggest SUVs First
GM's Super Cruise Range Enhancement Hits Its Biggest SUVs First
General Motors’ Super Cruise is, by all accounts, . It achieves its level of capability and poise through geofencing, meaning it can only be used on specific GM-approved highways. When the company announced it was , allowing hands-free access to “more than 400,000 miles” of American roads, it seemed...
Apr 6, 2026
Honda and Sony Could Relegate Dealers to Service Centers and Cut Them out of EV Sales
Honda and Sony Could Relegate Dealers to Service Centers and Cut Them out of EV Sales
and are moving forward with their to make EVs that will allegedly be sold in the U.S. by 2026, but not as Sony or Honda branded cars. The two companies are titans of their respective industries, but now that auto and tech have started to overlap, plan to use...
Apr 6, 2026
Honda Plans to Make Self-Driving Micro Cars for People Who Can't or Won't Drive
Honda Plans to Make Self-Driving Micro Cars for People Who Can't or Won't Drive
is testing out tiny in Japan that are meant to appeal to old and young people alike. The so-called “micro-mobility devices” are part of attempt to branch out to those who can no longer drive themselves or are otherwise uninterested in cars, such as the elderly or the ,...
Apr 6, 2026
Californians Don't Want to Tax Rich People to Help Make EVs Affordable
Californians Don't Want to Tax Rich People to Help Make EVs Affordable
It looks as if the state of is going to have to find another to making more affordable. Residents across the state voted down Proposition 30, which would’ve increased income taxes on anyone making over $2 million so EVs could be more affordable for . Here’s how it would...
Apr 6, 2026
There’s Finally a Female Crash Test Dummy
There’s Finally a Female Crash Test Dummy
Sure, the first male crash test dummy was introduced in 1949, and there was even in use earlier this year. But, there hasn’t been a representative female crash test dummy since testing began. Until now. Finally, a full 73 years after we started to find out how safe a...
Apr 6, 2026
Volvo and Pilot Are Going to Put Commercial EV Chargers at Pilot and Flying J Travel Centers
Volvo and Pilot Are Going to Put Commercial EV Chargers at Pilot and Flying J Travel Centers
is partnering up with to build a network of specifically for . Volvo and Pilot haven’t laid out a due date for their , however, since the project is still in its early stages. But Volvo says it’s committed to helping commercial trucks transition to EVs seamlessly, and it’s...
Apr 6, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved