REE Automotive announces body partnership with EAVX

Israeli start-up REE Automotive has partnered with a major US commercial-vehicle bodywork supplier as it targets the e-mobility market with a new platform. EAVX, owned by JB Poindexter, will collaborate with REE Automotive to develop commercial electric work trucks.

Initially, REE and EAVX will work on a “next-generation” walk-in van for the US delivery market, with further collaboration to target additional North American commercial work truck customers and markets. The companies also emphasized the flexibility of the modular REE Corner platform. For now, REE and EAVX aim to develop prototypes for a joint project by Q1, 2022, with production targeted for 2024.

REE’s unique sales position so far has been the flexible technical development of the vehicle platform, which allows it to coexist quite peacefully with the other OEMs dominating the marketplace. As Daniel Barel, REE Co-Founder and CEO, puts it: “We are a technology company”, not an automobile manufacturer. This allows for but also requires cooperation in the automotive field, as the company will not be selling finished products directly to customers, as Tesla does, for example. Instead, REE is betting on a series of industry cooperations to deliver a far more flexible product than a simple car model could provide. For this, the new cooperation with EAVX will certainly speed up and expand the process, but this is also not the first cooperation announced by REE. For example, a cooperation agreement was signed with Magna earlier this year. More recently, a cooperation was announced with Hino Motors, Toyota’s electric truck subsidiary.

“The JB Poindexter & Co is the leader in commercial work truck bodies and accessories. They are the ideal partner to help propel EV adoption in the commercial market segment,” said Daniel Barel, REE Co-Founder and CEO. “This collaboration is an important step forward for REE’s business growth – and for improving livability and quality of life by eliminating carbon emissions. REE is dedicated to partnering with manufacturers that will push boundaries, and this collaboration helps put us on the fast track to fulfilling our vision of serving as the cornerstone of next-gen EVs ‘Powered by REE’.”

In addition to the new announcement, REE also presented a new online configuration tool to help their customers find the appropriate vehicle to suit their needs. Selections can be made from the five REE Corner layouts currently developed, which are then combined with different body and battery options to set up a suite of options for the customer, being able to choose everything from size to function, while the tool calculates range and other important specifications live.

Production and delivery are also to be done in a modular style, as the company plans to manufacture components and then assemble them in one of 15 planned ‘integration centres’, which are yet to be built. The first is to be constructed in the USA, with Europe and Japan to follow as the company positions itself to deliver to global markets.

press conference via live stream, ree.auto, ree.auto (configurator)