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Bollinger B1 Electric Truck Gets a Nose Job
AUG 10 2018 BY DOMENICK YONEY 36
Plus, bonus video overload!
The Bollinger B1 is more than just another pretty face. Still, that doesn’t mean its developers aren’t afraid to mess with its mug. Especially when it comes to improving the aerodynamics of what is, essentially, a brick.
More about the Bollinger B1
The rugged machine has undergone some cosmetic surgery to improve the way it moves through the air and possibly provide more cooling potential. The vents on the fascia that previously took in air through strips that ran alongside the headlights have been expanded and now surround the round peepers. The vents that had been located on the fenders over the wheel well have been relocated to the hood. The lip that transitions the flat front to the hood is a good bit bigger now, and it appears they may have extended the entire snout to do so.
If the dialogue we overhear at the beginning of the above video is anything to go by, the changes should not only help get more air into the radiators lurking beneath its aluminum skin, it should also push air up over the windshield. The original design resulted in 900-plus pounds of front lift and as much as 700 pounds of downforce in the rear. The new configuration should reduce those forces and increase its operational efficiency.
While redesigning parts of the B1 might keep the team relatively busy, that is hardly all they’ve been up to this summer. They are also working on the four-door version of the vehicle. We’ve seen sketches of this variant already, but we’ve got a bonus video below that shows how they are developing the design in real life. Basically, they’ve built a buck out of wood and placed seats within it to more realistically judge how the finished product would accommodate its passengers.
Not enough B1 action for you? Fine. We’ll throw in a couple more videos just for you, then. One, titled “Kinetics & Compliance,” follows the beast on a visit to Morse Measurements, where the suspension geometry is checked and measured along with its stiffness under various loads. It’s a bit of an arcane process, but interesting to watch in this short clip.
Our final bonus video involves a trip to Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty, Ohio. Here, the B1 gets put through its paces, traversing a number of different surfaces, from river rocks to a simulated washboard road. It’s a fun watch that helps you imagine piloting it over your favorite terrain. Taken as a whole, these brief videos give some insight into the complicated process that is vehicle development. We’ve no doubt more are on the way, too, as there is still at least a year before actual production begins. For now, though, enjoy!
Source: YouTube
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36 Comments on "Bollinger B1 Electric Truck Gets a Nose Job"
It’s almost easier pushing a brick through mud!
What is “they’ve built a ‘buck’ out of wood”?
A saw buck?
Good thing it’s A Real EV 4X4.😂
It’s amazing how many automotive technical terms IEVs writers and editors want to add to our vocabularies. Shooting brake, targa, cabriolet… and now “buck”.
But heck, I’m still bemused by the term “liftback sedan”, and how that’s considered a different type of car than a “hatchback” just because the slope of the hatch is a bit more shallow. 😉
In ordering to avoid the risk of big change cause by unreasonable ergonomics parameter and save development time, vehicle research institute usually build a seating buck. The Seating buck is a physical cabin model of passenger car for ergonomics verification. It is widely used to assess the amenity, ingress and egress, visual field, habitability, etc.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-33835-9_62
Buck is a very common term used, normally in the fiberglass molding industry. A buck or “ plug” is used to create the primary object to be duplicated. Buck is definitely not a new term, it’s been around for decades. Just sayin’
While I’d like to see this SUV in production, I think it’s gonna end up like the Workhorse W-15 and so many other “gonna happens.”
Delta E4?
I hope Workhorse’s W-15 has only been postponed, not canceled. Let’s not forget that the 2008 Tesla Roadster was postponed three times (about 9 months) before it finally went on sale.
Workhorse is still trying to raise money:
https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/18/08/12173298/workhorse-turns-to-stock-offering-for-additional-capital
I hope that’s the case. While I’m not a fan of ICE any more, I would seriously consider buying a W-15 for it’s range and price point!
Volt powers the wheels mechanically with the engine in certain circumstances.
Do you think that battery voltages are constant? No they’re not. It probably matters very little what voltage is at the input of the power electronics.
No I don’t but your point is an irrelevancy. The only way the 48 volt thing works with any practical amount of money spent for the DC/DC converter, is to have VERY LOW charging rates such that either you can’t drive too fast, or else you have to take frequent breaks to give the thing time to transfer the juice to the other battery.
I suppose it if was a very slow charging rate, the fusing requirements would be minimized.
And admittedly, I was probably a little hard on the guy. My apologies.
Many people don’t know how either VOLT works, so that’s not a crime, and a trickle charging scheme for a Nissan Leaf doesn’t need high efficiency to be able to at least do ‘something’.
So his scheme has more merit than I thought at first blush. Especially if he can come up with a source of 48 volt batteries for free.
“No I don’t but your point is an irrelevancy. The only way the 48 volt thing works with any practical amount of money spent for the DC/DC converter, is to have VERY LOW charging rates such that either you can’t drive too fast, or else you have to take frequent breaks to give the thing time to transfer the juice to the other battery.”
What?? This makes zero sense. You don’t need a separate DC-DC converter ever. The control electronics handles whatever input and outputs whatever is necessary for the motor. One of the main points of the inverter is to produce an arbitrary voltage.
Where you get you ideas about low charging rates and “transferring juice” between batteries is beyond me.
Fine. Do it. But first let us see your inverter which puts out an ‘arbitrary voltage’.
I’m sure its output voltage is ok, but if you are planning on running the thing on 48 volts tell me how much horsepower you’re planning on getting at the wheels.
ANY ev I’ve had never worked below 300 volts on the input.
“…Where you get you ideas about low charging rates and “transferring juice” between batteries is beyond me.”
Yup, we agree there.
Maybe my initial comment was too kind.
“Yup, we agree there.”
Yeah, because it’s complete nonsense. I was the one too kind in pointing that out…
“but if you are planning on running the thing on 48 volts tell me how much horsepower you’re planning on getting at the wheels.”
The two are unrelated… The number of cells limit the total power output, which doesn’t change whether you connect them into 20V or 400V modules.
“But first let us see your inverter which puts out an ‘arbitrary voltage’.”
Variable voltage for motor control is one of the goals of an inverter. And you have zero basis of calling the whichever design stupid when you understand nothing about the motors and electronics and design considerations.
(Also you’re dumb enough not to realize that I’m not the person you first responded to. I responded to your BS claim that having a difference in the voltage of the battery pack and motor is stupid.)
Nope, its smart if you’re designing for inefficiency.
Are you going to be like Pushy Pushi, and Superdope Nix and immediately start to insult people who know one or two things here?
No offense, but I haven’t seen that you have any familiarity with subjects you speak.
I made 2 comments on your scheme, One I was hard on you, but on reflection, I realized I was being overly critical. My apologies.
HAHA!!!! Scratch that – one of the rare times I’ve been too Empathetic.
http://www.atlismotorvehicles.com/
Atlis is right there too, they have a good looking truck, with good specs, good price…but are currently in the raise money to build the prototype phase… 🙁
I don’t think I’d give them the money…even if I had it. I’d rather just wait a year or so and see what Tesla unveils.
I’ve read some more on the ATLISMOTORVEHICLES frequently-asked-questions. They say they are targeting 1,500 kw charging rates.
They must have hired Priusmaniac as a consultant since he always said 1500 kw was easy to do.
Why are you hoping for a big disgusting tub like that. It’s like trying to make EVs as pointless and wasteful as possible by monkeying fuel guzzler bloated pickups and SUVs.
It clearly is not marketed to you. I know many people that say it is the only EV that gets them excited.
Sad…
Interesting that they’ve been able to significantly alter the aerodynamics without changing the extremely boxy shape of the truck.
I never in a million years dreamt that Bollinger was interested enough in aero drag to put the B1 thru wind tunnel tests! The shape fairly screams This truck is for off-road use. If you drive it on the highway, that’s your problem, dude! 😉
Hoping to see the B1 go into production soon.
We need innovative companies like these and Tesla to push the laggard, legacy, conservative OEMs into doing the right thing and mass produce compelling EVs in all segments.
Curious as to why 2 people didn’t like your comment.
It’s exactly what we need, every ICE segment having a BEV version.
Right now we’re still stuck with 4-door Uber-suitable sedans.
I’d pay $50,000 for a sweet AWD BEV sport coupe like the new Supra coming out.
Some segments are idiotic.
Love this truck.
The only significant question re Bollinger is how close they are to lining up enough upfront investment (likely $50-$100M) to go into series production. Without that, it doesn’t matter how good the design is.
“The original design resulted in 900-plus pounds of front lift and as much as 700 pounds of downforce in the rear. ”
This is likely the critical factor. Those numbers would jeopardize their 10,000 lb capacity rating. If they lost that rating, they would lose their airbag exemption. This sounds like a likely showstopper they had to fix. Luckily it doesn’t look like they had too much a problem doing it.
I don’t think such a exemption would work in Europe. It’s probably to wide anyway. But I would love to own one one day….
Looks like Ford is getting into the boxy UV look too. . .
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a31079/new-ford-bronco-ranger-details/
The author states, “….The world’s most awesome all-electric truck is still under development.”
I thought you guys told me that was the Tesla Semi.