“Bollinger is pleased to announce the suggested retail price for the B1 Sport Utility Truck will be $125,000 (approx. RM523,000). The suggested retail price for the B2 Pickup Truck will be $125,000 (approx. RM523,000).”

Ouch. Punchy.

So says the tweet from Bollinger Motors’ official account, and it’s fair to say that people expecting an easily affordable electric farm truck aren’t happy. New adoption tech rarely comes cheap, though. For now, you’ve only got to find $1,000 (approx. RM4,200) for the deposit. The rest comes later. You’ll need a bloody big sofa to rummage in for the change. 

Forgotten about Bollinger? It’s a New York start-up aiming to bring battery-powered electro-fficiency to the world of rugged 4x4s. The B1 (that’s the SUV) and the B2 (the pick-up) are as square as SpongeBob but run an al-oo-min-umm chassis, hydro-pneumatic suspension and has better off-road dexterity than a Jeep Wrangler, apparently.

And being electric, it’s got instant torque, for scrambling about with impunity. You get 640nm, horses totalling 606bhp, and on road, it’ll make it from 0-97kph in 4.5 seconds. These are the new rules of EVs. Meanwhile, the 100kWh battery offers a claimed 322-kilometre range.

So, too much money for a bluff workhorse, or the price of progress?