Mullen acquires 60% stake in Bollinger for $148M

Mullen Automotive Inc. acquired a controlling interest in fellow electric vehicle manufacturer Bollinger Motors, of Oak Park, Mich.

Mullen, headquartered in Brea, Calif., bought a 60 percent stake in Bollinger for $148.2 million, the company said Thursday.

The deal marks Mullen's first foray into the electric truck market, with Bollinger Motors introducing both electric SUVs and chassis cabs in the past half-decade.

Just last week, Bollinger said it would produce the Bollinger Motors B4 — a battery-powered Class 4 chassis cab. The automaker did not include a production timeline in the announcement.

"This acquisition is one of the largest in the EV industry to date and provides Mullen with the unique opportunity to aggressively expand into the high-demand commercial EV space," Mullen CEO David Michery said in a statement.

Since its launch in 2015, Bollinger Motors has been plagued by problems, especially surrounding its release windows. In January, after failing to find a production partner in time, the company indefinitely postponed the release of its first two models — the B1 SUV and B2 pickup.

"Mullen shares a similar dream to build the best EV cars and trucks. This partnership will bring us closer to making those visions a reality, as it allows us to ramp up production on our end and get Mullen's EV programs to the market faster," Robert Bollinger, CEO of Bollinger Motors, said in a statement.

Bollinger will stay on as CEO of his namesake company at its Oak Park facility, he told Automotive News.