Things are not currently looking good for commercial EV startup Bollinger Motors.
The Oak Park, Michigan-based manufacturer of the pure battery-electric medium-duty Class 4 B4 Chassis Cab has been placed into receivership by a federal judge following a lawsuit filed in March by founder Robert Bollinger vs. Bollinger Motors.
[Related: A quick spin in Bollinger's B4 class 4 battery-electric chassis cab]
Bollinger, who also served as Bollinger Motors CEO until last summer but remains on the board, claims his former employer owes him $10.5 million from a personal loan he made to the company.
For context, California-based Mullen Technologies purchased a controlling interest in Bollinger Motors in September 2022 for $148 million. Last October, Mullen announced that Mr. Bollinger provided the loan for the purpose of "non-dilutive debt financing to support Bollinger Motors’ production ramp-up and sale of Class 4 all-electric trucks."
The loan had an interest rate of 15% per year and the company missed a $125,000 payment in February, according to court documents. It finally paid up earlier this month but Mr. Bollinger alleges the amount was "insufficient to cure" the loan's terms.
Per The Detroit News, the EV truck company has defaulted on around $500,000 of credit card debt. The credit cards "were somehow guaranteed by Robert Bollinger, event though he was no longer employed by or served as a director of Bollinger Motors." Mr. Bollinger, according to the lawsuit, claims this has resulted in his personal credit card being rejected.
[Related: Explore the Bollinger Motors B4 Chassis Cab like never before]
Unfortunately, the startup's financial problems don't end there.
According to Automotive News, Bollinger confirmed it's now facing litigation from at least two suppliers over unpaid bills. Combined with Mr. Bollinger's lawsuit, a federal judge ruled last week to freeze Bollinger Motors' assets for what's likely the next step: liquidation.
This has resulted in B4 production, contracted last year to Roush Industries, grinding to a complete halt. The assembly line only got up and running in September 2024.
[Related: Bollinger Motors announces B4 chassis cab production start date]
And now, Bollinger Motors is left with more than 40 unsold B4 trucks, valued at over $5 million.
“Bollinger Motors is working through the process of addressing the allegations in the pending lawsuit," said Bollinger Motors CEO Bryan Chambers in a statement. "Our goal is to quickly arrive at an outcome or resolution of this dispute and continue supplying a product that we believe is best-in-class. We cannot comment specifically on the allegations in the pending litigation.”
Bollinger Motors' financial situation is not new to the EV startup world. Lordstown Motors, Fisker, Canoo, and Nikola have all collapsed or continue to face mounting setbacks due to unresolved money problems.
In the meantime, Mr. Bollinger has expressed confidence the company will somehow recover. He's also made assurances that employees will continue to be paid but it's impossible to predict how long this will last.
