> THE BOLLINGER MOTORS STORY

Bollinger Motors, an electric truck manufacturer, was originally founded in the Catskill Mountains of New York in 2015. After 2 years of development, the small team revealed their first working electric truck prototype in 2017. With a huge response to the all-original ground-up truck design, the electric vehicle company promptly moved to Detroit, Michigan to expand the engineering team and prepare a new design for production. Bollinger Motors is now based in Oak Park, Michigan where the team focuses on building the highest quality commercial electric trucks available. 

> HOBART NEW YORK 2015 - 2017

“Trucks have had the same design flaws for a hundred years and someone needs to do something about it.”
Robert Bollinger, 2015

This upstate New York cattle farmer made it happen.

Robert Bollinger 2015
Bollinger first Headquarters Day One

In 2015, Robert Bollinger renovated an old 3-bay garage in Hobart, New York to be the first headquarters of Bollinger Motors.

NEWLY RENOVATED FIRST BOLLINGER SHOP

Over the course of two months, the original Bollinger Motors team was formed.  They spent hours sitting at computers formulating ideas and designing in CAD before anything was built. The team lived together in the ‘bunk house’ next door.

Original Bollinger Motors Engineers
View from the original Bollinger Motors Bunk house.

Back and forth for weeks from their beds to their computers.

John Hutch at work

They built life size mock-ups to help guide the design and maximize the use of space. (Paco approved.)

first wood buck
Paco sits in the life size bollinger seating buck

Eventually, the months of design work led to building the first B1 prototype chassis.

first chassis

As the systems were completed in CAD, the components were sourced or built in the shop, then installed to the frame.

Cj installing Bollinger Portal Gear hub

Motors are heavy. Dogs are important. Body panels are flat.

First Bollinger Body Panel Placement

Then winter stopped so they rolled it outside for a minute.

First roll outside for the B1

Then they rolled it back inside, finished assembling it and took the whole thing apart again.

Paint and surgical reassembly came next.

Robert paints B1 Chassis
New paint and rivets on B1

And then one magical day…

Drive in to Photo Studio
B1 Shoot BTS

July 2017. The All Electric, All Wheel Drive Bollinger B1 Sport Utility Truck was born.

B1 2 door
Rear view B1 Doors open Pass through

The response at the NYC reveal was overwhelming. Over 3,000 orders were placed overnight.

NYC Bollinger Motors B1 Reveal 2017
2017 Bollinger B1 Reveal
Bollinger Team at 2017 Reveal NYC

Testing began right away.

NYS test track
ny test track
Bi on test track

That fall the team took the B1 to Colorado and Utah for some real off roading.

colorado B1
moab B1
Moab B1 climbing

Testing was taken up several notches for durability, light-weighting, kinematics and compliance.

k&c testing B1 2 door
B1 in wind tunnel

> FERNDALE MICHIGAN 2018 - 2019

In 2018 Bollinger Motors moved to Michigan in order to be closer to automotive suppliers, engineering and manufacturing partners.

The team grew and the engineers began prototyping the 4 door B1 and B2 pickup truck in the new Ferndale headquarters.

Engineers in Conference room
B1 Schematics On computer screen
H-point diagram for B1
B1 Frame being welded
Pizza Party Bollinger Motors 2019

All hands on deck. Even the marketing department pitched in getting the prototypes built.

Mark Foster Brand Director Bollinger Motors
B1 and B2 Frames in Shop
Ferndale Bollinger Team in B1

The Bollinger Motors team 2019 with the B1 4-door prototype just before tear-down for paint.

Bollinger Motors Team 2019

The B1 and B2 just after paint. (There may have been a handful of other steps before this. Ha.)

B1 finished
B2 Prototype

Robert detailing the first Bollinger electric skateboard prototype.

Robert cleans Bollinger Electric Skateboard

> OAK PARK MICHIGAN 2019 - NOW

Bigger Team. Bigger Plans. Bigger Digs.

Exterior Bollinger Motors
Oak Park Facility Bollinger Motors Interior

Winter testing.

B1 Winter testing
Winter Testing B1
winter testing B1

Gen 3 Bollinger B1 frame ready for assembly.

B1 Frame
Block with Motor
rutabagas
Karl With Cradle Motor and suspension
B1 Mule Roll cage
B1 frame With Battery
Cj with B1 Chassis

The team rolls a fully assembled gen 3 B1 chassis out. Robert stands with a gen 2 B1.

Bollinger Motors Electric Rolling Chassis
Robert Bollinger with B1 pass through

Bollinger portal gear hub and modular drivetrain cradle assembly.

Bollinger Cradle Motor

Lowering roll cage mule body onto gen 3 B1.

Gen 3 B1 Test Mule -Roll Cage Body off

Standard protocol parking lot rip test.

B1 Mule Parking Lot Rip

Bollinger Motors pivots to all-commercial electric trucks and builds the first class 5 platform prototypes.

Class 5 Chassis 2022
team over chassis
class 5 electric chassis

2022 A.C.T. Show – Bollinger Motors reveals new commercial platforms.

ACT 2022

The first cab-forward prototypes revealed shortly after.

2023 – the first customer and partner drives take place at M-City in Ann Arbor, Michigan