REE Automotive to build commercial EV plant in UK’s Coventry
By Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) – REE Automotive, which develops rolling chassis for business electrical automobiles (EVs), mentioned on Monday it’s going to construct an meeting plant within the British metropolis of Coventry to produce prospects in Europe.
The Israeli-based startup mentioned the highly-automated meeting plant it’s going to full this yr in partnership with Rockwell Automation and Professional Applied sciences can have an annual manufacturing capability of 10,000 EV chassis.
The corporate didn’t disclose the scale of the funding or what number of jobs will probably be created, however Chief Govt Daniel Barel mentioned the excessive degree of automation meant the plant could possibly be run by a workers of round seven folks.
“That is asset-light meeting utilizing cloud-based infrastructure,” Barel informed Reuters, including that it ought to take the corporate 10-11 months to construct any further plant because it expands.
REE already plans one other plant in Austin, Texas, in 2023, by replicating that highly-automated cloud-based system, doubling its manufacturing capability to twenty,000 EV chassis.
The corporate mentioned the Coventry plant will initially give attention to its P7 electrical platform for business makes use of like supply vans, buses and leisure automobiles.
REE plans to launch manufacturing of an electrical supply van and a folks mover in 2023.
As an alternative of conventional axles, REE’s electrical car platform runs utilizing 4 separate wheels – with their very own steering, braking, suspension, powertrain and management – that permit its automobiles to have flatter bottoms, offering extra room for cargo.
As conventional automakers put together to churn out electrical vans and vehicles, startups are centered greater than ever on discovering a aggressive or technological edge to remain on the highway as soon as their greater rivals begin transferring by way of the gears.
(Reporting By Nick Carey; Modifying by Kirsten Donovan)
