When you’re offroading, horsepower means nothing. Torque is what you want when crawling over rocks at single-digit speeds, and when it comes to low-speed torque, electric motors are king, Unfortunately, all the electric vehicles currently available are either sedans for crossovers not meant for getting their tires dirty. Detroit, Michigan based Bollinger Motors is set to change that with their B1 and B2 electric trucks.
We’ve previously taken a look at the Bollinger trucks at its headquarters and walked around the vehicles with the founding team and engineers, but now we’ve gotten our greasy little auto-journalist hands over both the prototypes, poked and prodded, and generally did our best to break things on these Tonka trucks.
Climbing into the B1 (the SUV version) the confines are snug despite the enormous real estate outside and the wide-open greenhouse inside. Because of very funky and very cool center cargo tunnel, the seats are shifted to the absolute outside of the cabin. This forces even the slender frame of your author against the door, leading to much more claustrophobic and tight sitting experience than one would expect from looks alone.
If you do happen to squeeze yourself into the truck or SUV, you’ll find yourself behind bespoke high-quality switchgear, a beautiful glass-look gear selector, and just as many right angles as you see on the outside of the vehicle. It is certainly a nice place to be and I would look forward to exploring red rock country behind the wheel.
The switches, door handles, door closures – all the touch points and interactions feel sturdy and reassuring on your fingers. Perhaps the best compliment you can give to any vehicle, and one that I will readily give to the Bollinger twins, is that shutting the doors sounds and feels like closing the doors of an air-cooled Porsche 911. If you know, you know. If you don’t, just trust me that it is one of the best feelings in the automotive universe.
We hope to drive the Bollinger early next year and provide our on and off road impressions to you then. In the meantime, our time spent in and around the Bollinger showed us high-quality materials, work-friendly finishes, and a platform aching to get dirty in the backcountry. Off-roading will never be the same once these EV overlanders hit the scene.
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