Global electric firm setting up new Cov operation
A GLOBAL electric vehicle firm, which already has an engineering base in Nuneaton, is setting up a manufacturing operation in Coventry.
REE Automotive, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) platforms, has announced its first European factory - or integration centre - to produce the platforms as part of a global network will be in Coventry.
The new Coventry operation will take shape adjacent to Coventry Airport where there are outline plans to create a huge gigafactory to build batteries for electric cars. In February 2021 the company announced it was setting up the REE Automotive Engineering Centre at the MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton.
REE Automotive is an Israeli firm which has developed an electric vehicle platform which can be used for a wide range of vehicles.
The company is expecting high global demand for its Reecorner and electric vehicle platform technology.
A spokesman for REE said that it currently employs around 150 people in the Coventry area and that figure is set to double to around 300 as it expands.
They added that the Coventry manufacturing site is set to be operational during the second half of this year.
The new Coventry manufacturing operation covers 130,000 sq ft, includes industry 4.0 technologies and features solar panels, which will help provide some of the energy required to operate the factory.
The company also has plans for a manufacturing operation in Austin, Texas. REE says it will be relying on cloud-based robotic manufacturing as it expands, with the system rolled out across its global network, after Coventry.
The announcement about the Coventry facility marks a key step towards commercial production.
REE’S Coventry Integration Centre will serve customer demand in Europe with an initial focus on the P7 electric platform for commercial vehicles such as walk-in delivery vans, buses, and recreational vehicles. The Coventry site will also operate as the blueprint for all future REE Integration Centres, with expected capacity of 10,000 vehicle sets this year.
The North American Integration Centre in Austin, Texas, is expected to double global capacity to 20,000 vehicle sets in 2023 by replicating the highly automated cloudbased architecture of its European sibling in Coventry. The company is partnering with industry leaders including Rockwell Automation and Expert Technologies for robotics and automated assembly, with the first assembly line expected to become operational in the second half of 2022.
The company says it expects to host customer and media visits later this year.
“This is an important milestone on our path to commercial production next year,” said Josh Tech, REE’S chief operating officer. “The automated and connected capabilities at our Coventry site are a great foundation for our global operations, as they will enable us to continuously fine-tune our assembly procedures and rapidly deploy them to other sites.
“Our cloud-based robotic manufacturing system will be the digital backbone for our assembly lines and give us the local capability to manage our customer-specific manufacturing operations, while also allowing us to quickly share and scale best practices internationally across all plants.”
Peter Dow, REE vice president of engineering, said: “We have a world-class team of highly skilled designers and engineers who are leading the design, development and production of our innovative current and future technologies. Our team is doing tremendous work toward commercialization of our Reecorner technology with P7 corner and platform builds.
“This establishment of the Coventry Integration Centre marks a pivotal moment in the commercialization of REE’S innovative Reecorner technology and EV platforms, with prototype on-track testing of its P7 platform having commenced this year.”