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Exclusive! Meet the Future Electric Heavy Duty Trucks That Can Off-Road like a Jeep: The Bollinger B1 & B2 (Video)

Two lockers, two disconnecting sway bars, 20 inches of ground clearance, and more.

Bollinger B1 – all electric truck

The Bollinger B1 and B2 are all electric trucks that are rated to haul around 5,000 lbs, and have all the gear to off-road like a Jeep Wrangler or a Jeep Gladiator.

These machines may have classic looks of a Jeep, Land Rover, or an International – but these trucks are bigger in dimensions than you may have initially expected. These trucks are 89 inches wide and about 208 inches long. The B2 crew cab pickup truck has a wheelbase of 139 inches. In other words, they are approximately as wide as a full-size truck, about as long as a midsize crew cab truck, and have a payload capacity of a heavy duty.

The B1 & B2 are class 3 heavy duty trucks, and here is everything about how they are designed and built.

Bollinger B1 & B2

Bollinger B1 four-door

At the core, these trucks have an aluminum tunnel-like chassis. The center structure runs all the way from the front bumper to the rear. There is one electric motor and gear assembly in the front and one in the back. Each electric motor produces over 300 horsepower for a total of 614 hp and 668 lb-ft of torque.

Each motor assembly is very compact when you compare it to traditional V6 or V8 truck engines. The motor has a gear drive that connects it to a Hi/Lo 2-speed transfer case. Then the power is transferred to a differential with a selectable locker.  Yep, these trucks have two transfer cases and two diff lockers.  The entire mechanical assembly is bolder to the tunnel chassis from underneath with about a dozen bolts. 

Bollinger B1 2-speed transmission / transfer-case

Next are the inboard disk brakes, the drive shaft and the suspension components. Before we get to the hydraulic adjustable suspension, we have to talk about the “portal axle” hub assembly. It’s not a portal axle in a traditional sense, but there is a geared assembly in the hub that provides more gearing and additional ground clearance.

The suspension is a fully hydraulic system. The standard ride height offers 15-inches of ground clearance. The truck can lower to 10-inch of clearance for help with egress and loading. The truck can also raise for up to 20 inches of clearance, while self leveling front to back and side to side.  The trucks have no physical sway bars. The hydraulic system compensates for sway and articulation on the highway.  However, at slow off-road speed the suspension can go into a “sway bar disconnect” mode to offer approximately 10-inches of suspension travel per wheel.

These trucks pull energy from a 120 kWh battery pack that is mounted in the center floor area of the vehicle. Bollinger estimates approximately a 200 mile driving ranger on a full charge or a 70 MPGe rating from the EPA. The vehicles are equipped with several levels of chargers. The quickest Level 3 charger will enable a 75 minute recharge time, according to Bollinger.

We still have no idea about the pricing of the upcoming Bollinger B1 & B2 trucks and SUVs. The company plans to official debut the trucks this September. The pricing should be know at that time. The company will start taking money deposits for builds. Bollinger is finalizing their production facility partner, and the first customer trucks should reach their owners at the very end of 2020 or early 2021.