Israeli firm truly reinvents the wheel to power electric vehicle future
REE places the motor, steering, suspension, drivetrain, sensors, brakes, thermal systems and electronics into the vehicle's wheels, creating a flat platform.
By EYTAN HALONREE Electric Car
Aspiring entrepreneurs are often advised that they don’t need to reinvent the wheel in order to be successful.Yet reinventing the wheel is exactly what Tel Aviv-based start-up REE decided to do as it seeks to power the future of electric-powered mobility.Co-founded by Daniel Barel and Avishay Sardes, who previously established wheelchair suspension start-up SoftWheel, REE emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, unveiling its flat and modular chassis, which integrates all of the components usually found under the car hood into the wheels.REE places the motor, steering, suspension, drivetrain, sensors, brakes, thermal systems and electronics into the vehicle’s wheels, creating a flat platform.The innovative design, the company says, provides a low center of gravity, thereby maximizing energy efficiency, increasing agility and stability, and improving performance – critical factors in the future success of the electric and autonomous vehicle revolution.“The concepts of the past are limited and restrict the ability of the automotive industry to realize the electric and autonomous reality they are striving for,” said REE chief executive Barel.“Until now, the industry has operated by making incremental improvements on the traditional design of the automotive vehicle. At REE, we believe that in order to hasten the automotive revolution we need to reinvent the wheel – quite literally.”The platform, REE says, offers automotive manufacturers multiple body configurations, providing the basis for vehicles ranging from high performance cars to off-road SUVs and even heavy-duty trucks. The platform is based on a quad-motor system, and includes active suspension, steer-by-wire and a smart quad-gear box.The company will showcase its novel approach for the first time on Wednesday at TechCrunch’s TC Sessions: Mobility 2019 conference in San Jose.
Promising major savings to original equipment manufacturers and automotive manufacturers by replacing multiple vehicle platforms with a single, universal framework, the company has already garnered significant industry interest prior to going public.REE is already collaborating with major automotive industry partners including Mitsubishi Corporation, Musashi Seimitsu Industry, Tenneco, American Axle, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and NSK.
