
Bollinger B1: An electric truck with 360HP and up to 200 mile range - smacktoward
https://www.theverge.com/transportation/2017/7/27/16052118/bollinger-b1-electric-sport-truck-outdoors
======
masklinn
Looks interesting, the front trunk and cut-down "UI" look especially great.
This looks like an EV you could actually work on in your garage.

Vaporware until they get a production line though, and the absence of airbag
is somewhat worrying when it advertises a top speed of 127mph and 0-60 in 4.5,
at a GVWR 10klbs it's outside the light truck regs (8.5klbs GVWR) and thus
doesn't _require_ them but still...

Of note, the Verge article is light on useful pictures, there are other sites
with interesting pics especially of the interior:
[http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1111790_bollinger-b1-the-...](http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1111790_bollinger-b1-the-
coolest-electric-car-youve-never-heard-of)

And while it has the same dimensions as a Wrangler it avertises 2~3 times the
curb weight and towing capacity and almost twice the cargo volume (rear seats
stowed). And the maximum ground clearance is pretty ridiculous as well
(advertised as adjustable from 10 to 20, most trucks seem to be between 8 and
12)

~~~
interfixus
Minority view: I dislike airbags. If it were legal - which it is not where I
live - I would have them out of my car today.

The rest of you are welcome to the damned things and the undoubtedly enhanced
security they provide. Me, I shall never be thoroughly comfortable with a
giant armed boxing glove pointed at my head.

[Edit: typo]

~~~
mywittyname
Really? Seat belts without airbags are dangerous. At best you risk smashing
your face on something hard, at worst, you're looking at orthopedic
decapitation in relatively minor accidents.

~~~
justadeveloper2
I drove cars without airbags for most of my life. I even still have a car
without airbags. Whether it's a good idea or not is debatable, but your
statement that it's dangerous doesn't resonate with me. Airbags are a false
sense of security and may or may not help you and were originally devised as a
way to help drivers who don't use their seat belts. Airbags certainly do run
the cost and complexity of cars way up, however. In the past, airbags have
injured drivers and can go off unexpectedly (and even killed people when doing
so).

~~~
allannienhuis
survivorship bias. Yes, airbags can have faults that can cause injury. But
having them is still safer than not having them. Just because you survived in
a car without airbags and some other individual (even many) got injured or
killed by an airbag is not evidence that people in general are safer without
airbags. You need to assess risk/benefit based on a statistically valid sample
size.

The statistics are pretty easily google-able so I'll only bother linking one
article here: [http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5410761/ns/us_news/t/around-
saved-...](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5410761/ns/us_news/t/around-saved-air-
bags-last-years/#.WXtdcH4rJhE)

That's not to say we shouldn't work on safer airbags, especially for children,
or hold manufacturers accountable for faults/failures; of course we should.
But saying cars are somehow safer without airbags flies in the face of the
available evidence.

[edit] I realize you didn't explicitly say that airbags are not safe ('good
idea or not is debatable', 'may or may not'), but you strongly imply that with
'Airbags are a false sense of security'.

~~~
gehwartzen
"To get the rule, which was opposed by the auto industry because it would add
cost to vehicles, Dole promised it would be rescinded if states that accounted
for two-thirds of the population passed laws requiring seat belt use."

First time I had ever heard of the last part of that quote. A quick check
shows 30 states have primary seatbelt laws. As these include all the big
states (NY, CA, TX, FL,...) I would have to think we are at 2/3 of the
population.

~~~
dragonwriter
The claim as phrased is somewhat suspicious, since it's a regulatory rule and
the industry had no firm ability to prevent the department from issuing the
regulation (they could lobby against it, or try to get allies in Congress to
exercise a legislative veto.) Such a promise may have been a political effort
to soften the blow, but I don't see any argument that, even if she was morally
obligated to follow through on the promise while she was Secretary, it would
be even morally binding on a later Secretary, especially in a different
administration. And, legally, if the condition isn't in the regulation or
somewhere else legally binding, a politicians promise of repeal is
meaningless.

------
tyingq
I know it's a prototype, but I wonder how much thought was put into safety.
The simplistic look makes you think there's probably no crumple zones. And
there's clearly no driver's airbag, dashboard padding, etc.

Edit: The style seems heavily inspired by the original Ford Bronco. They even
support the removable rear top.
[http://classicfordbroncos.com/builds/](http://classicfordbroncos.com/builds/)

~~~
GreyTheory
Looks more like its inspired by the Land Rover Defender 90 to me. I don't
really see the resemblance to a Bronco.

~~~
Animats
1966-1977 Ford Bronco.[1]

The Defender was a lighter vehicle, closer to a Jeep Wrangler. Both came with
roll cages. The Bollinger lacks that, and has a flimsy cab. It needs a roll
cage.

[1] [http://www.broncoparts4u.com/](http://www.broncoparts4u.com/)

~~~
chrissnell
No, the Defender didn't come with a roll cage, at least not most of them. The
American-spec versions that were imported for three years in the 90's had
factory-supplied Safety Devices cages but most rest-of-world (ROW) Defenders
did not.

Source: I am the co-founder of NAS-ROW, the Defender forum. [https://nas-
row.com](https://nas-row.com)

------
kylehotchkiss
Wonder if they need a torque converter still to give it a little more oomph
off road.

Also: "It also bucks the high-tech trend of new cars in general. There will be
a radio with an AM/FM receiver, Bluetooth connectivity, and an AUX input, but
there’s no touchscreen." I hope this becomes a trend. Touchscreens in cars are
horrible ux.

~~~
yellowapple
"Touchscreens in cars are horrible ux."

Indeed they are. When I'm driving, I need to be able to feel what I'm
manipulating; I shouldn't have to take my eyes off the road (or if I do, it
should be at an absolute minimum).

A screen on the dashboard controlled by physical buttons/knobs makes a lot
more sense if a screen is really necessary. That way, even if I have to look
at the screen, at least I can still peripherally see the road.

~~~
alkonaut
It's terrible having to input destination names etc without a (screen)
keyboard. Screen + knob has been around for ages (e.g my 09 Audi) and it's
great for simple things like scrolling radio stations but that's it. So for
newer cars - yes it's terrible but there is no option. The safe solution is to
stop to use the touch screen, just like you _should_ stop to use the cell
phone - but noone does that either. The design should be that there are knobs
for a minimum set of features (climate, volume, ...).

Take this to it's extreme and you could make the touch screen read-only when
the car is moving unless the passenger seat is occupied.

------
burger_moon
Can you recharge these on a normal gas generator? Something like a Miller
engine driven generator[1] could probably do it but those are $$$ for the
average joe. I only ask because a lot of people trailer their rock
crawlers/mudders to more remote areas to go play and have fun, but when the
electricity runs dry you'll need a way to power it back up. This thing looks
like it'd be a lot of fun not only for daily use but also for backwoods
offroading.

[1] [https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/engine-
driven/...](https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/engine-
driven/bobcat-225-engine-driven-welder-m90334)

~~~
Leszek
If you're carrying around a generator, you may as well carry around an
internal combustion engine though?

~~~
outside1234
Is that always true though? I could see doing that for longer trips (rare) and
leaving it at home for the remainder of the 90% of trips.

~~~
FLUX-YOU
I'd bring it while towing something heavy as a safety net. Towing will affect
the range in ways which aren't easy to calculate with hilly terrain even if
you know the weight of the trailer + cargo.

------
jay-anderson
> there’s no touchscreen

I like this. Feels like many new cars are adding in a screen (touch or
otherwise) while I prefer cars without it.

------
Animats
It's encouraging to see this. It's about time for electric pickup trucks. The
price point ($60K) is going to be a problem for work trucks.

They talk about high speed, not low-speed high-torque. They don't say much
about how the drivetrain behaves at low speed. Do they have locking
differentials, or something that prevents wheel spin? It's a two-motor system.
Does the motor control system know how to keep the front and back wheels in
sync when traction is bad? You don't have a front-to-back differential; that's
a software operation here. How good is very low speed, high-torque operation?
There's no shifting, so you have to do low-speed control in software. With
good software and differentials, this could be a good rock-crawler. Can you
pull a stump with this thing? They should be able to do this, assuming they're
using 3-phase motors like everybody else today.

Providing 120VAC power out is a nice feature. They don't say much about
charging. It should carry a charger that can charge from 120/240VAC, so you
could charge slowly from any power outlet if you have to. Or another
Bollinger. You'd have a big charger at home base, but opportunistic charging
is a necessity when you're far from charging stations.

Really needs air bags, and fewer sharp edges in the passenger compartment.
Off-road that thing and you'll cut yourself on the door handles. Once they
find a real manufacturer, they can clean up the interior.

Does it have a heater? That's a big problem with electrics, especially ones
like this with no insulation.

[1] [http://bollingermotors.com](http://bollingermotors.com)

~~~
cr0sh
Regarding your comments on charging - I hope that they add a charging port for
solar. If you ever got stuck, and you had a panel with you (for camping or
whatnot), you'd at least have some method to get topped up.

~~~
Animats
A 100 watt solar panel, a typical size for camping, would take 600 hours of
bright sunlight to charge a 60KWh battery. About 10 weeks. In 10 hours you
could get 1KWh, and might be able to move a bit.

~~~
sn9
This thing is screaming for solar panels on the roof.

------
aliston
I've been looking at buying an electric car recently and was surprised that
the list of electic SUVs is really small. There's basically the Model X and
not all that much more. The Rav4 got discontinued.

It seems to me that this is a huge market opportunity. The technology is right
on the cusp of being very practical in terms of range. Soccer moms who commute
to the grocery store and occasionally go on a trip to the mountains want a car
with room and 4WD. If such a car existed, they would be shouting "take my
money!" Not quite sure why the car manufacturers aren't building these things.

~~~
UnoriginalGuy
> Not quite sure why the car manufacturers aren't building these things.

Because consumers aren't buying these things.

The only people who seem to be buying full electric vehicles are electric
vehicle enthusiasts, meaning it is a niche. Most enthusiasts will just buy a
Tesla if there is a Tesla at the price bracket they're looking at, since Tesla
is the most exciting brand in electric by far.

For everyone else, full electric vehicles don't make cost effective sense. Oil
is too cheap and electricity too expensive. Many vehicle subsidies have also
vanished. So people who are cost sensitive are looking at hybrids, or even
plug in hybrids, since it is completely future proof to oil or electric price
fluctuations.

People aren't buying electric for completely normal rational reasons you can
quantify using an Excel spreadsheet. For that to change, either oil has to go
up, electricity has to come down, subsidies have to return, or electric
vehicles need to offer some other quantifiable value not found on a hybrid.

~~~
aliston
I would have assumed the same even a couple months ago. The idea of buying an
electric car never even crossed my mind. Now, at least in my case, after
running the numbers its a no-brainer.

A car like the Fiat 500e, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf etc. can be leased for
$100-$200/mo. These cars all effectively get 100+ mpg. So, any difference in
the lease cost is made up for in 1 or 2 tanks of gas.

There are still tons of incentives as well. In a couple years, there will be
little functional difference between electric and gas cars for 99.9% of use
cases. I think in 10 years, new sales of electric cars will exceed gas cars.

------
criddell
I wonder if the rise of electric vehicles is re-igniting the kit-car industry.

I still think about some of the kits from the 1970's.

For example:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_car#/media/File:3-4Nose.jp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_car#/media/File:3-4Nose.jpg)

~~~
2sk21
Yup - the back pages of Popular Science was a great place to see them

~~~
criddell
Oh yeah. Now I have to Google that...

Check this out:
[https://books.google.com/books?id=iwEAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA4&ots=0...](https://books.google.com/books?id=iwEAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA4&ots=05FoHfDbkG&dq=back%20pages%20of%20popular%20science&pg=PA184#v=onepage&q&f=false)

It's even better than I remember. :)

~~~
cr0sh
If you really dig around during that era, you'll also find a few books and
magazine articles about converting certain small cars (things like the Gremlin
and Pinto) to all-electric drive trains - and even custom hybrid drive-trains.
The main downsides of the time were lack of battery technology and effective
motor controllers (most affordable - for the time - controllers were for
brushed motors).

------
JohnJamesRambo
That looks amazing. I'd buy that in a heartbeat if I ever allowed myself to
buy new cars.

~~~
fhood
If you're into an unholy union between a land rover disco and a hummer

~~~
JohnJamesRambo
I am into that.

------
jschwartzi
I've been wanting something like this for years. It doesn't seem like any car
company is building an all-electric truck.

~~~
stephengillie
An electric drivetrain is incongruent with traditional truck marketing,
apparently. A great deal of this is in the visceral sensation of proximity to
a powerful engine - the loud noises, the excessive exhaust, the overbearing
atmospheric vibrations, etc.

Frustrating in that the most realistic option is retrofitting an existing
electric car drivetrain to a small truck frame.

~~~
freehunter
None of that is what any truck marketing is about. Have you seen truck
commercials or ridden in a brand new, unmodified truck? There is no loud
noise, no vibrations (overbearing or not), virtually no noticeable exhaust.
Modern consumer trucks are luxury vehicles, properly isolated from the outside
world. Smooth, quiet rides and cushy feeling interiors. Car-like handling.
_That 's_ what truck marketing is, and that's how modern trucks are built. In
the commercials you see them driving over rough terrain, then they cut to a
quiet and serene interior shot where the driver might as well be parked with
the engine off.

Even for work trucks, they advertise that it has enough power to get your work
done, but always emphasize that it's refined and comfortable. People who drive
work trucks don't specifically _want_ to drive work trucks, that's just the
only vehicle that will get the job done.

What you're thinking of is children who think that the louder exhuast, the
more soot, and the bigger engine makes them more of a man. No truck
manufacturer wants to be associated with that and no trucks roll out of the
factory with a configuration like that. All of that makes a truck _less_
useful.

The highest selling vehicle in America is a full-size pickup truck made of
aluminum and has a 6-cylinder engine. It's a very small market of truck buyers
who want loud noses, excessive exhaust, or overbearing vibrations, that is
_not_ traditional truck marketing.

~~~
stephengillie
Currently driving an old, rebranded S-10, with a 2.6L engine. Daily driver,
weekly 120mi trips, occasional adventure/event/offroad/bad city streets/"need
to rescue this person" vehicle, and occasional cargo vehicle aka "Guy with a
truck".

An S-10 weighs about as much as a Camry or Prius, and uses a similar
drivetrain. The engine of this rebranded S-10 is parts-compatible with a Dodge
600 of the same era.

------
macintux
Jalopnik just posted a good analysis of the design: [http://jalopnik.com/the-
bollinger-electric-truck-uses-an-ide...](http://jalopnik.com/the-bollinger-
electric-truck-uses-an-idea-i-had-years-a-1797340741)

------
donavanm
I really want one. Theres no reasonable modern adventure/utility truck on the
market. Icons are nice but $$$. Same for all the other modern after market
conversions. Like many others Ive settled on a 30 year old truck
(4runner/hilux surf) for this niche.

but... the complex suspension worries me. Fungibility or flexibility yes, but
massive adjustability sounds fragile and complex. Dual drive sure, but it
_must_ have some sort of LSD. Which isnt mentuoned. 200 miles is a really
short range. I can do 300+ on my stock tank and its not enough. Last 4 day
weekend in the cascades/palouse/okanogan was about 700 miles. Practical
recharging in the rural/wilds is .... unlikely.

As mentioned until theres real capital and manufacturing this is vaporware. Im
also skeptical of $60,000, I'll bet real money against that. Icon, a small
batch truck manufacturer with real product, is more like $100-150,00 and up.

Edit: entry and exit angles look nice. Real curious how that "plate" style
chassis handles flex.

------
willvarfar
Given that it doesn't need a bonnet, its a shame it isn't more styled on
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_L3314](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_L3314)

But I definitely want one! :)

~~~
elygre
Oh man, "Volvo felt". That thing went _everywhere_ in terrain!

------
Shivetya
still think the best place is school buses. you know where they will be parked
and their exact routes. plus you get kids and parents used to electric
vehicles on an every day use.

yes they are expensive but all it takes is a spike in gas prices to seriously
hurt some districts who got hit hard the last time it went high.

there are many markets for vehicles which have set operation ranges and known
routes. EV tech ain't near replacing combustion in many cases but in tightly
controlled instances it does work. (range, charging, weather, and cost are the
four areas all being worked on and all needing work)

------
dghughes
His frustration with his trucks I bet it because they were powered by gas.
Trucks should only be diesel you don't need horsepower (fast time to cover a
distance) you need leverage aka torque.

A documentary on Sherman tanks amazed me because they were gas powered and
when hit gasoline exploded. German tanks were powered by diesel. The US has
hated diesel from day one it's amazing.

But electric has tons of torque by design it should be suitable. But I wonder
if the horsepower can be dialed down for more range?

~~~
rz2k
When skiing with a diesel car, I've had to dump wastepaper bins full of hot
water from the motel's shower to get it warm enough to start. The Germans had
to light bonfires under their tanks while invading Russia. Most modern tanks
use kerosene/jet fuel to power turbine engines. This designer is making a
vehicle for upstate New York where winters can be pretty chilly.

His frustration with small utility vehicles and a pickup truck are more likely
due to types of suspension and weight distribution. Low enough gearing will
give you the equivalent of high torque to get over small boulders, but getting
through snow is not even that difficult. The challenge is getting your tires
to dig in, not a shortage of power.

~~~
dghughes
I'm in the Canadian Maritimes about 1,000km (400 miles) north east of NY city.
Winters here Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar can easily be a static -20C (-4F) my old Dodge
diesel truck has no problems starting, I used to use a grill blocker and a
block heater but really it isn't needed just use thinner motor oil for the
winter. And the ability to travel 1,000km (621m) per 100 liter (26.4US gal.)
tank was nice for a large truck the efficiency of diesel is far beyond
gasoline engines.

    
    
      I'd love a small diesel or electric or diesel/electric 4x4 like a Jeep or a four door 4x4 truck.
    
     I'd take that electric truck though my love of diesel was due to its efficiency and torque now electric vehicles getting common that's a good replacement. Although I worry about going through deep water with a giant battery! In the springtime I've been through water 30cm deep (12") even in the middle of my small town.

~~~
rz2k
This was about 20-30 years ago, and I'm sure I had the wrong engine oil for
the Lake Tahoe area compared to the warmer weather on the coast. At the same
time that the guy from AAA recommended hot water for warming a diesel engine,
he said that the water would have been more likely to cause problems with a
gasoline engine.

However, starting it did generally involve 5-10 seconds of running the
glowplug, even when it was 50°F (10°C) outside. Do more modern diesel engines
have high enough compression that they don't need to warm the compression
chamber as much before it will combust?

I did like driving a diesel car. It's seemed very utilitarian and was
extremely reliable and durable.

------
vivekd
I wonder why there aren't more EV trailers on the road, a trucking company
would be more willing to absorb the higher initial costs of an electric truck
in order to save on fuel down the line. Is it because EV can't effectively
compete in terms of fuel costs against to long range you get with diesel. Or
is it just short sightedness among manufacturers

EDIT: actually looks like I spoke too soon:

[https://nikolamotor.com/one](https://nikolamotor.com/one)

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/04/13/if-
you-t...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/04/13/if-you-think-
the-world-needs-tesla-semis-and-pickups-elon-musk-has-good-news/#1d5f7fc96491)

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/04/19/toyota-r...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/04/19/toyota-
rolls-out-hydrogen-semi-ahead-of-teslas-electric-truck/#22ce9c1e582b)

------
6stringmerc
Fascinating approach and re-thinking of a utility vehicle. I'm thinking the
10,000 - 20,000 units is pretty ambitious. Hence why The Verge politely just
mentions that Bollinger hasn't figured out a "final price" yet but fails to
mention what a "current estimate of final price" might be.

When I think of utility vehicles, I think of Defender 90 and Toyota Hilux type
vehicles - spartan, proven, reparable in many parts of the world. When I think
of a new car model, even from large manufacturers, I get the jitters of being
a first-adopter. So much gets learned and shaken out by real-world, human use.
Nice idea, but I'm a dreamer at heart and through receiving lots of pragmatic
feedback, I kind of see this through the same lens.

~~~
davio
I think they'd be better off selling them at 120K. The design on that thing is
brutal (in a good way). I think collectors would buy them and they wouldn't
have to worry about scaling their manufacturing.

------
Vinalin
I feel there's a huge lack of electric/hybrid vehicles in the truck/pickup
space, although for understandable reason. However I've heard of a company
that's working on a fleet version of an eletric pickup truck and I think
they're now looking for client interest.[0]

The caveat is that it's not fully electric. 80 mile all-electric and then the
generator kicks in, giving it 310 miles per tank. However pretty good gas
mileage and safety was definitely a concern.

[0]: [http://workhorse.com/](http://workhorse.com/)

------
cr0sh
Well - it's nice to finally see another potential player in this arena; we've
seen this one I think:

[http://workhorse.com/pickup/](http://workhorse.com/pickup/)

But both of these are well outside of my price range. But it has to start
somewhere.

The thing I've feared/worried about when it has come to the push for electric,
and self-driving vehicles, and the recent rumblings by France and the UK to
ban ICE vehicles in the near future - is that those who enjoy off-roading are
being left out.

~~~
burgreblast
Thanks for sharing that link. You can see from the product that neither the
CEO (Adlink), President (Gannett), Dir or Eng (P&G) have any experience with
vehicles.

I love that they are doing a hybrid stepside truck chassis with BMW engines
but I hope they have something else. A public NASDAQ company that has $90M in
paid-in capital but only $10M cash now, had better sell to stay alive. I hope
they do. The basic idea is good; they need to execute.

------
carsongross
Dear Toyota: look at this truck, and at the FJ40, and get to work.

------
guntars
They should add a 3kW+ inverter option to use all your favorite electric tools
in the field, making this basically a large battery on wheels.

------
athenot
Great low-speed torque and hydraulic suspension would be great features for
offroading, especially crawling on really tricky/fun terrain.

------
dsfyu404ed
It had better be a lot cheaper than an F150.

Nobody who wants a truck for truck stuff is gonna put up with the downsides of
electric and the NVH of a 60s panel van and 200mi range unless it costs much
less than vehicles with equivalent performance.

The people who buy electric to make a statement about their preference in
power sources are not the people who will buy a bare-bones truck.

~~~
aphextron
>The people who buy electric to make a statement about their preference in
power sources are not the people who will buy a bare-bones truck.

I think you could have made the same statement about luxury vehicles before
the Model S. Electric provides such a game changing increase in performance
that people wont care about the downsides as much, so long as you can make it
sexy.

------
frik
Looks like this is inspired by the famous Mercedes G/Puch G.

For more then 3 decades it is well known for its boxy style and its benefits:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_G-
Class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_G-Class) (scroll down for
pictures)

------
simonb
Looks really interesting and promising, but why didn't they make it front
control like the Land Rover FC101.

------
yellowapple
I've been dreaming of a car like this for a long while now. Even down to its
boxy look and the fact that it looks like it won't get stuck in an inch-high
snow drift.

They won't even start accepting deposits until 2018, apparently. Gives me more
time to save up for this beauty.

------
rhspeer
This could be a nice acquisition by Jeep/Chrysler since they're lagging behind
in EV development due to lack of funds.

It would also help get the taste of the compass & patriot horseshit they've
been peddling lately.

That's some beautiful vaporware, I hope they make it.

~~~
leoedin
If they're lagging in the EV department due to lack of funds, purchasing a
startup like this won't change that. Bollinger probably designed almost none
of the core "EV" stuff - motor drivers, motors, charging circuitry etc. They
couldn't afford to. They've almost certainly bought it off the shelf from one
of the many automotive OEMs. Chrysler could do the same.

~~~
mywittyname
It doesn't help that FCA insists on doing the bare legal-minimum wrt to EVs.
Their executive team does not see any value in EVs, they are literally just a
cost of doing business for FCA.

------
alkonaut
Cool. But it's DOA if it doesn't meet safety standards. People might accept
4/5 NCAP stars but not for a premium car. Lack of airbag is concerning but
might be fixed before the production model is finished I suppose.

------
0xbear
That steering column will look mighty impressive when the driver impales
herself on it in a crash. I wonder what NHTSA thinks of non-crumpling columns
and steering wheels with no air bag.

------
pmontra
Specs at
[http://bollingermotors.com/Bollinger_B1_SpecSheet_20170725.p...](http://bollingermotors.com/Bollinger_B1_SpecSheet_20170725.pdf)

------
bobwaycott
It’s an electric Land Rover Defender clone. Still cool, though. But definitely
not original in design at all.

------
kevin_thibedeau
Wonder what the range would be if it didn't have the aerodynamics of a brick.

------
bitJericho
Is this the next DMC? I don't know. But I want one!

------
goneri
If you are also confused by the units:

360HP: 268kW, 200 mile: 321.869km

------
jacobmarble
"He just happens to be doing it in the middle of goddamned nowhere."

I left Southern California for this. My current employer is hiring software
engineers in Sandpoint, Idaho.

kochava.com/careers

~~~
cr0sh
It isn't so much that your employer is hiring (that's great!) - but what
happens should the employee be let go or want to change employers? Are there
other employers in the area needing software engineers? Are there enough of
them to support the needed software engineers as a whole?

That's the issue, as I am sure you are aware. In SV, a software engineer
(according to trite legend, I suppose) can walk out the door and be hired
again across the street the same day. They can probably repeat that every day
for a year, and still not run out of options.

I know that's an oversimplification, and hyperbole to boot - but you know what
I mean.

An area needs more than one employer in the space to make it attractive to
those employees they need. Especially if they want to stay in the area long
term...

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sabujp
was expecting a semi truck

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geiseric
Looks like my Land Rover.

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towndrunk
Needs a hood scoop. :)

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flareback
It's not a truck

~~~
yellowapple
Is there some definition of "truck" which this vehicle does not fulfill?

~~~
apardoe-MSFT
My definition of truck: if you can't dump a ton of shit in the bed with a
backhoe, it's not a truck. It's a minivan.

For me, having a permanent bed cover means it's not useful as a truck.

~~~
yellowapple
The bed cover's not permanent, though; it's removable per the pictures in
[http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1111790_bollinger-b1-the-...](http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1111790_bollinger-b1-the-
coolest-electric-car-youve-never-heard-of)

It also has a recommended cargo weight of 6,000 pounds, so it _can_ haul a ton
(literally! and two more!) of shit.

This is really no less of a truck than a Ford Bronco or Dodge Ramcharger.

~~~
flareback
also don't consider those trucks

~~~
apardoe-MSFT
Thanks, I didn't look far enough to see that the bedcover is removable. Now
this truck is an option for me.

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olegkikin
Don't they need their own battery gigafactory to scale the production?

~~~
yellowapple
If they were willing to move to Reno (and if Tesla was down with it) they
could piggyback on the existing Gigafactory here. I'm not sure how much it'd
take to adapt the B1 to Tesla/Panasonic batteries, though.

As an additional bonus, there are lots of mountains over here, too, and snowy
ones at that. Truckee or Tahoe during the winter would make an excellent
proving ground for these things, and would additionally be close to a strong
potential market for them.

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backtoyoujim
reminds me of Maurice Wilks early Land Rover designs.

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apl002
dat truck is sexy

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frabbit
Hopefully these will be restricted to use on farmland instead of being
inappropriately paraded in suburban areas.

Electric vehicles are not "clean", they're merely cleaner.

~~~
ClassyJacket
Excuse me? What claims are you making exactly regarding electric vehicles that
mean they shouldn't be allowed on public roads?

~~~
frabbit
I am making the claim that while these vehicles may be useful for hauling
stuff around farms they should not be abused (see Hummer, Jeep, SUV, pickup
trucks, massive mommy waggons). While electric motors allow us to reduce the
CO2 emissions somewhat the energy does not magically come from nowhere: there
are externalities associated with all methods of power generation.

It is a truism that when people think they're getting a bargain they then
over-consume and end up consuming more than they would have if the price were
higher initially. I would like to see that not happening with electric
vehicles.

Reduction in energy consumption is easily achieved by not chosing a
ridiculously heavy, non-aerodynamic vehicle.

~~~
frabbit
For a directly relevant example of the irrational behaviors observed around
lowering the prices of commodities:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/upshot/when-gas-
becomes-c...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/upshot/when-gas-becomes-
cheaper-americans-buy-more-expensive-gas.html)

