A U.S. district judge has granted former Bollinger owner and CEO Robert Bollinger’s request to put his former company into court receivership after its new owners failed to come to a meeting regarding an unpaid loan between the two parties, which is only the latest in a long string of disasters for the once-promising commercial electric truckmaker.
The company initially planned to produce the B1 pickup and B2 SUV, but its boxy creations have not seen the success of Rivian’s R1T and R1S, despite being much simpler. They didn’t even make production, so Bollinger pivoted to commercialization to survive, but even that doesn’t appear to be enough to stop it from circling the drain.
Bollinger’s History In Brief
Robert Bollinger founded the company 11 years ago in New York with a plan to produce a body-on-frame electric truck and SUV clearly inspired by and modeled in the style of the original Land Rover Defender off-roader. A few years in, the company realized it should move to Detroit, Michigan, and it eventually dropped plans for its smaller SUV and truck in favor of larger commercial vehicles it dubbed the B4 and longer-wheelbase B5. Bollinger then left the company as CEO 11 months ago after he sold it to new owner Mullen Automotive Inc., which has since reported a $115 million net loss on revenue of $2.9 million in Q4 of last year.
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Then The Trouble Started
Bollinger sued Mullen over an unpaid $10 million loan agreement in March, and when the company failed to send a representative to a meeting in May, the judge sided with the former CEO. “A receiver is in charge of the company,” Robert Bollinger told Automotive News. “The main goal is to sell the company as a going concern. Most of the assets are in my possession,” he said. Mullen must propose a deadline for a liquidation plan within 30 days now. All of Bollinger Motors’ assets have been frozen, and Mullen no longer manages day-to-day operations for the company.
“Mullen did an amazing job of funding us and getting us to where we are,” Bollinger said. “There’s a lot of interest in the product, and the best possible outcome is for the company to continue as it is.”
There Are Not Many Bollinger EVs Out There Yet
So far, Bollinger Motors has reportedly only built 40 Class 4 so-called B4 commercial vehicles, a majority of which have reportedly not been sold and are sitting at the company’s headquarters in Michigan. They retail for around $135,000 with an all-electric range of around 185 miles. So far, $148 million has been invested in the startup, about $3 million of which was granted from the state of Michigan. The automaker currently has 100 employees, and the former CEO reportedly has personally guaranteed their incomes will be sustained in the near term while the company gets sorted.
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Its long-awaited EVs are going to be shelved for financial reasons.
Current Bollinger Motors CEO Bryan Chambers told AutoNews: “During this period, we are focused on moving forward and remain committed to bringing our customers a world-class vehicle.” Hopefully, Bollinger doesn’t meet the same fate as Fisker and other recent startups, but it’s not looking good.
Sources: Automotive News; The Detroit News
