REE Automotive and Knapheide Debut Electric Fleet Solution

REE Automotive, an automotive technology company and provider of full by-wire electric trucks and platforms, showcased its electric commercial demo vehicle at Work Truck Week 2024. REE’s P7-C chassis cab was displayed in the company’s booth during the show.

“REE prides itself on being upfit ready,” said Daniel Barel, CEO and co-founder of REE Automotive. “No two fleets have the exact same business needs or use cases, and when they purchase a Powered by REE vehicle our technology allows them to not be constrained by traditional vehicle architecture.”

REEcorner

Barel said the REE vehicles use electronic control to replace legacy mechanical and hydraulic systems for critical operations including braking, driving, and steering. The absence of traditional mechanical components increases cabin space and cargo volume, allowing for a low floor creating almost endless upfit possibilities.

The company accomplishes all that through its REEcorner, which packs critical vehicle components — steering, braking, suspension, powertrain, and control — into a single compact module positioned between the chassis and the wheel. If one needs repair or service work, a new REEcorner can be installed to replace the one removed for maintenance.

The REE platform is fully flat from end-to-end, due to REE’s proprietary x-by-wire technology, providing full steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire, and drive-by-wire independent wheel control. This enables a fully flat chassis, low step-in height, and excellent vehicle maneuverability, the company said.

Fleet Benefits of the P7-C

REE’s P7-C, according to the company, is designed to benefit fleets through better:

• Ergonomics: Driver-centric, cab-forward cabin design for excellent visibility. Enables other ergonomic benefits such as ease of entry and exit due to the low platform and full-height cab.
• Serviceability: Swappable REEcorners can be replaced in less than an hour for serviceability advantages designed for low fleet TCO and minimal downtime – using a single common corner for all four vehicle locations.
• Maneuverability: Outstanding vehicle performance from class-leading turning radius, and segment exclusive All Wheel Drive (AWD) and All Wheel Steer (AWS) provide high performance in challenging weather and other adverse conditions.

Upfitting Ease of REE Chasis Design

“It was a great process working together to develop our body around their chassis,” said Chris Weiss, vice president of engineering at Knapheide. “It’s one thing for a company to give us a cab chassis and ask us to upfit it, it’s another to actually partner with the manufacturer to come up with a solution ahead of time.”

Weiss said the REE P7-C comes to Knapheide ready for upfitting. For example, there is a series of threaded inserts so that the Knapheide body is mounted directly to the frame rails.

“By working together for every step of the process, we’re able to create a really custom and seamless process for the REE P7-C and any future fleet customers,” Weiss added.

Vehicles Powered by REE are upfit-ready and offer considerable benefits for body installations, including:

• No Drill: Integrated mounting weld nuts so that bodies can be secured directly to frame rails
• Battery Maintenance: Accessible from under the chassis
• Flat Floor: Structural advantages and weight savings by reducing the need for additional body mounting kits, and independent suspension to reduce body stresses
• Electrical Integration: Plug and play chassis harnesses for aftermarket electrical systems REE currently has 17 authorized dealers in North America that can help fleets on their path to electrification.

Tax Incentives for EVs

Dealers can assist customers in navigating the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and various state tax incentives that the vehicles are eligible for.

Special Demo for Knapheide Distributors

Ree also showcased its electric commercial demo vehicle at Work Truck Week 2024 during the Knapheide Distributor Event. The private event was attended by Knapheide’s sales and installation partners, who had the chance to see firsthand a full vehicle solution, which is built on REE’s P7-C chassis cab and upfitted with Knapheide’s KUV body.

Originally posted on Work Truck Online