There is an EV that can actually give you the power, performance and off-road prowess you’re looking for. While Jeep hasn’t put an EV powertrain to work and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is a massive luxury SUV that hasn’t been offered as an EV, one small company is ready to give us a utility vehicle that can provide you with the benefit of a range from a single charge between 120 and 200 miles of driving in order to make it possible for you tohead out on the trails and leave the extra gas behind.
A new startup, Bollinger has created the B1 which is being called the world’s first all-electric AWD off-road sport utility truck. This new vehicle is exciting and interesting in many ways, including the fact that you can take this brute out on the trails for the drive you want to make. This new SUV brings in a performance that’s better than what we already see on the market with a 360 horsepower drivetrain that also pumps out an impressive amount of torque. With that in mind, there are four distinct ways the Bollinger B1 stands out above the Land Rover Defender, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
Lightness
The Bollinger B1 tips the scales at 3900 pounds which sounds heavy, but for an EV that’s actually pretty light. Considering the Wrangler Sport 4×4 comes in at 3879 pounds and the Rubicon and other beefier versions can reach 4100 pounds this puts the B1 at the lower end of the scale. The chassis only weighs 295 pounds on its own and is made from aluminum with a HSLA steel rollover structure. The B1 is built with 15.5 inches of ground clearance with ten inches of wheel travel in the suspension.
Torque
Not only does the B1 offer much more horsepower than the Wrangler with 360 compared to 285, there is more torque as well. The B1 has 472 lb.-ft. of torque while the Wrangler shows up with 260 lb.-ft. This may not seem like a fair comparison because the B1 costs twice as much as a Wrangler, but this new SUV is half the cost of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and it can reach 127 mph and sixty mph in 4.5 seconds which is nearly a second faster than the G63 AMG because of the instant torque delivery of the EV powertrain.
Storage Space
The new Bollinger B1 uses an integrated drivetrain which allows it to offer more cargo capacity than any other vehicle of this size. This means you can have as much as 6100 pounds of stuff in the back of the B1. This area is large enough for you to fit up to 72 sheets of half-inch plywood. With the length of the bed area being twelve feet from the front seats you can extend this space even farther if you need to so that you can haul the load that can then be cut up with power tools that can be attached to the battery pack of the B1.
Watertight Interior
You can actually hose out the interior of the Bollinger B1 in much the same way as you would for the Jeep Wrangler. There are rubber seals and gaskets that protect things and make it possible to take a hose to the inside so that you can avoid damaging any of the features and materials. This is a vehicle that’s meant for the trails and can certainly give you the power and performance you want out on the trails while giving you the ability to have a great way to enjoy the ride that needs to be cleaned up after you’ve gotten it dirty. Bollinger hopes to put the B1 into production sometime in the next 18 months, which will give us the first EV SUV that’s a serious off-road capable machine.
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