Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023 - 30

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
REE unveils P7-C chassis cab with innovative REEcorners
As a company focused on offering modular
answers to the world's mobility questions,
REE knows the value of being flexible. That's
why the new P7-C chassis cab fills a gap in
REE's forthcoming lineup. There will be
three versions of the P7 electric truck: the
P7-C, the P7-B box-truck model and the
P7-S stripped chassis.
REE unveiled the P7-C at the 2023 ACT
Expo in Anaheim, California, where there
was no lack of zero-emission commercial
vehicles on display. While the P7 platform
and its innovative REEcorners can be used
for Class 3 through 5 vehicles, the P7-C aims
squarely at the Class 4 market because
that's where the potential incentives and
interest levels are high.
REE said it expects to deliver the first P7
electric trucks in late 2023, but it will not be
announcing tens of thousands of P7 reservations
before the company has shipped its first unit. CEO
Daniel Barel said REE at the moment has chosen a quiet posture
and just started taking orders in early 2023.
" It is very important for us to have the right customers that
represent the right potential, " Barel said. " We want to invest
in each of those customers. " He said REE has secured orders
from the " largest fleets in the U.S., " but he wouldn't name
them just yet.
REE said it expects to deliver the first P7 electric trucks in late 2023.
" 'Well-done is better than well-said,' " he asserted. " The
proper way of announcing it is to say, 'Hey, they took delivery,
and they like it.' That means I've done my job. Until then, it's
just talk. We don't talk. We do. "
Driver-centric cab
REE designed its P7 trucks for commercial customization, from
the cabin to the payload area. REE's P7-C on display in Anaheim
used the company's driver-centric cab design, but any standard
cab can be installed on the P7 chassis. This modularity is part of
what REE calls its " complete, not compete " strategy.
" At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what REE does. It
matters what the customer needs, " Barel said. " We've created
a unique opportunity for our customers to have a cabin that
nobody else has or a traditional cabin on the same chassis.
The important part is the [electric] chassis. "
REE's non-traditional cabin was designed to take full advantage
of that quiet, electric powertrain. Drivers likely will
operate the vehicles in urban areas, so there's a low, wide
windshield for better visibility directly in front of the truck.
The cabin can be built with high or low floors, and it can be
ordered with one, two or three seats.
The outboard portion of REEcorner uses industry-standard components
such as shocks and wheel attachments.
30 June 2023
Drive-by-wire
Where REE really sets its vehicles apart, though, is at the corners.
The company designed a drive-by-wire system for an EV
based on modular units that contain everything that makes the
vehicle drive, stop and steer. They're not in-wheel or hub motors
but something else. There's a high-speed induction motor,
gearbox and power inverter bundled together as a single unit.
There are steering and brake actuators. There's a drive-by-wire
motor and a reduction gearbox, and a halfshaft. There are coilover
springs and hydraulic brake discs. And each REEcorner
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
BOTH IMAGES: SAE/SEBASTIAN BLANCO
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023

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