Bollinger has revealed its “production-intent” B1 and B2 pickup and SUV. These are what you might call pre-production and will indicate basically what will be produced. And what we have been shown is different from the early versions we’ve seen for over a year. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but we did think Bollinger had pretty much frozen its development.

The first thing we noticed is that the bodies have a bit more bulk

Obviously, it didn’t. So what’s the diff? The first thing we noticed is that the bodies have a bit more bulk. That’s because the beltline has been raised. We like it better this way. Why? Because before it was like a section had been taken out of the middle of the body. For all of the simplicity and flat surfaces, it didn’t have that bold, beefy look. 

Now with a little more height to the body, it has a bolder look. It is subtle, but trust us when we say it’s better. It gives Bollinger a bit more space to package things and also gives passengers a bit more sheet metal protection around them. And, again, it looks better.

Another production change is that Bollinger has separated the bed from the body

Another change is that Bollinger has separated the bed from the body. We expected that. Stresses from loads can tweak the body structure. Remember the 1961 Ford F-100 and the problems it experienced tying the bed to the body. Ford soon eliminated that feature once doors started randomly popping open going over railroad tracks.

Another advantage is that the entire side of the body doesn’t have to be changed out as a result of an accident. It can also offer the truck as a chassis-cab version for companies that want to build service bodies. We’re not sure how many folks are going to buy a Bollinger as a work truck but have at it.

Something missing is the “heater duct” above the front wheel openings

Something missing from this new version is the “heater duct” above the front wheel openings. We miss that. It added to the industrial look and feel of the truck. Bollinger has changed things around and now has a single radiator positioned behind the front bumper. Why would an electric car need a radiator?

The batteries need to be cooled so the radiator cools down the fluid running around the batteries. But without the cooling components clogging up the frunk there is now a bit more room. Also, the front gate that folds is now larger than the early versions.

The production front doors are now narrower than the early models

The front doors are now narrower than the early models. This allowed Bollinger to make the rear doors wider. It’s an egress, ingress thing. Everyone should be able to live with that. 

With all of these tweaks to the design, Bollinger also raised the top slightly. With the raised beltline it might have visually chopped the top. That wouldn’t have been a bad look but it starts to remove the B1 and B2 from being industrial-looking vehicles. So visually, it probably all ties together nicely. It’s hard to tell from images only. It would be fun to be able to stand back and compare them side-by-side but that probably won’t happen. 

One thing that the black tops do contrast with the white bodies is it visually shrinks them. That might have been Bollinger’s purpose for doing this, or maybe it wanted to give them a slightly different look. At any rate, Bollinger is plugging along as is Rivian. Soon, there will be quite a few options for those looking to hit the road with an EV pickup truck or SUV.