This Electric Off-Roader Could Replace The Land Rover Defender

This is the prototype of the Bollinger Motors B1, an all-electric ‘sport utility truck’ designed to plug the gap the Land Rover Defender left behind.

Revealed in Manhattan over the weekend, the four-seater looks like it has been styled to echo the Defender’s look as closely as possible without actually infringing any design trademarks. Built out of aluminium with a strong steel roll-over protection cage, it’s not exactly heavy in comparison to steel girder chassis, though, giving it an immediate advantage over the old Defender.

Thanks to a twin-motor setup it has full-time all-wheel drive, and with a modest 1769kg weight to haul around, the B1 prototype will hit 60mph in just 4.5 seconds on the way to a 127mph top speed. Power is reportedly 360bhp, with torque a muscular 472lb ft. Weight distribution is, interestingly, a perfect 50:50.

This is designed to be a working vehicle, and has used the extra space afforded by the electric drivetrain to maximise the load practicality. It can carry almost 2.8 tonnes of payload, says its spec sheet, and the towing capacity is listed as the same American 6100lbs. The ground clearance is adjustable between just over 25cm and almost 51cm, for proper mud-plugging escapes or difficult working conditions.

Bollinger has used some pretty unusual measures to demonstrate the car’s size, quoting an overall maximum 2690 litres of space if you take the rear seats out – about double what you get in an average family car with the seats down. Some 396 litres of that total are hidden beneath the bonnet, and a wide pass-through hatch from inside the cabin means the driver can fit 24 2x4 lengths of wood measuring up to 12 feet long inside the B1 without having to have the boot open. A split rear tailgate increases the length of the floor to over 15 feet.

More curious stats include that the B1 can hold 72 half-inch sheets of 8x4 drywall in the rear cargo area, and there are mains-voltage charging electrics. There are also 12-volt and USB plugs as standard.

There will be 60kWh and 100kWh versions, the latter having an 80-mile longer driving range: 200 miles vs 120 for the 60kWh car. The latter takes 45 minutes to fast-charge, says Bollinger, whereas the 100kWh car asks 75 minutes of your time.

With Land Rover still working on a worthy replacement for the Defender, has Bollinger Motors stolen a march and got the job done sooner?