- EV startup Mullen Automotive announced its purchase of a controlling stake in Bollinger Motors, valued at $148.2 million in cash and stock.
- Southern California-based Mullen, founded in 2014, intends to put the previously shelved B1 SUV and B2 pickup into production.
- Both models were originally slated to go into production last year.
- After 50,000 reservations came in, Bollinger announced a pivot toward commercial vehicles. So, we could actually see these models after all.
Following a $148.2 million cash-and-stock deal, EV startup Mullen Automotive announced its controlling interest in Bollinger Motors Thursday. It now owns a majority 60% stake, and aims to resume development on the long awaited B1 and B2 electric trucks.
In case you aren’t already up to speed, here’s some context on the deal. Robert Bollinger founded Bollinger Motors in 2015 and revealed its B1 SUV prototype in New York City two years later. It then moved its headquarters to Michigan in 2018, with the production-intent versions of the B1 and B2 pickup truck shown in late 2020. They were supposed to go into production last year, but that obviously did not happen, and Bollinger indefinitely suspended their development in January 2022.
By that time, some 50,000 people placed reservations, though the company did say it would refund all outstanding deposits on those two models as it pivoted toward commercial trucks.
Just last week, Bollinger announced its B4 medium duty truck line.
A glimmer of hope for the early reservation holders?
Mullen Automotive — no stranger to getting an EV off the ground itself — said it would position Bollinger to capture both the electric SUV and commercial truck markets. To date, it tried to revive the Coda EV brand, and struck a deal to build the Chinese Qiantu Dragonfly K50 in the U.S. After a 2020 merger, though, its current plan entails bringing a crossover called the “FIVE” to market by 2024. The company also working toward mass production of Class 1 and Class 2 electric vans in Tunica, Mississippi.
Of the Bollinger deal, Mullen CEO David Michery said, “Combining Bollinger’s vehicles with [our existing programs] gives us the chance to dominate the entire Class 1-6 commercial light and medium duty truck segments. In addition, Bollinger will be able to leverage Mullen’s solid state battery technology, making their current vehicles even more competitive as our technology launches across the total portfolio of EVs from both Mullen and Bollinger.”
At time of writing, both companies are announcing the deal and their intentions in a live YouTube event. You can check it out in real-time or watch the completed video below (as long as it’s still available):
