Electric truck maker Bollinger, which has only known struggle since its inception, is now facing dozens of complaints alleging unpaid wages and a slew of lawsuits by suppliers seeking millions in past due payments. Hell, even the state of Michigan is looking for money it’s owed from the Oak Park-based company. Back in 2023, it promised to invest $44 million and create 237 jobs in the Detroit metro area, but now it’s in default on its agreement with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. It was awarded $3 million by the state to help launch its Class 4 EV and, thus far, it has collected about a third of that cash with very little to show for it.
As is the story with many EV startups, Bollinger has sort of blown up on the launchpad. Its business case has run into major hurdles — mainly a lack of demand for high-priced vehicles following an overall market pullback and the death of federal EV incentives. From Crain’s Detroit Business:
As of Sept. 30, Bollinger had no qualified new jobs and 50 base employees, MEDC spokeswoman Danielle Emerson said. The company has laid off employees since then, Crain’s confirmed, though it is unclear how many.
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Bollinger has until May 4 to cure the default by reaching job milestones and “will be required to pay back all or a portion of those funds” if it fails to do so, Emerson said.
At the same time, the company is under investigation by the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, which has received 59 claims against the company about unpaid wages or benefits, department spokesperson Keely Lovern said.
“Those claims are still open and under investigation,” Lovern said. “Because they are open investigations, we cannot comment any further.”
Bollinger Motors was put into receivership in June when founder Robert Bollinger sued the company to recoup a loan and alleged the company was broke. David Michery, CEO and chairman of Brea, Calif.-based Mullen Automotive, which acquired a controlling stake in Bollinger in 2022, paid the founder back and promised to do the same for suppliers.
After emerging from receivership, Michery merged Bollinger Motors with Mullen to create Bollinger Innovations and consolidated operations to metro Detroit. He struck a resilient note during an interview in June, vowing that Bollinger Motors was here to stay.
Earlier this year, six suppliers sued the automaker, looking for about $5 million in outstanding bills. Since then, they’ve been paid back, but now there are six different suppliers suing the company in active cases. Woof.
In the nine months that ended on June 30, Bollinger incurred a $304.4 million net loss, according to Crain’s. In August, its accumulated deficit was $2.6 billion. I’ll be real, guys. I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel for Bollinger here.
