Bollinger’s making trucks. No, like actual trucks

If you remember Bollinger, you’ll remember an EV off-roader that looked like it was styled entirely with a ruler. No, the other one. You might also remember when it put its ultra-utilitarian B1 and B2 on the backburner, in order to focus on commercial vehicles.

The Bollinger B4 truck is the direct result of that decision. An indirect result is some wailing and gnashing of teeth around the Top Gear office, as well as the inability to make Bananas in Pyjamas jokes. But we’ll try to focus on the truck for the moment.

If you can consider the B1 and B2 (the jokes are just HANGING THERE) Bollinger’s idea of what makes a good off-roader, then consider the B4 more of a consensus on what makes a good truck. That means starting with a cab-forward layout, yielding maximum load space for a given vehicle footprint and superior forward visibility, as well as designing the  chassis to be as safe and adaptable as possible.

From there, good manoeuvrability wouldn’t hurt – Bollinger says the B4’s 41-foot (12.5-metre) turning circle “will be better than any comparable wheelbase truck” – while a solid rear axle for heavy loads seems only sensible.

Speaking of, if this all seems a bit too sensible, it’s because Bollinger spoke with the managers of “dozens of major fleets looking to electrify their vehicles”. And while in most countries, cars and motorbikes sell on a ‘want’ basis, trucks sell on a ‘need’.

So the single-battery model offers the 100 miles of range that most city trucks never exceed. And for those that do, there’s a twin-battery model with 200 miles. Because it’s not a case of offering great swathes of range to make a customer feel better about their purchasing decision; it’s about offering exactly what operators need and keeping the price down accordingly. A better fit for a lower price means more sales in the pragmatic world of fleet management than anything fancy. And Bollinger – utilitarian from the outset – seems almost tailor-made for that world.

Honestly, we hope Bollinger sells them by the thousands. Yes, for the environmental benefits, lower noise and so on. But in a much more selfish way, because we want the B1 and B2 to make production. And, if you’re thinking what we're thinking, B1 – we sure are, B2 – we want the ability to make some flipping Bananas in Pyjamas jokes.