Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024 - 14

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS
CHASSIS
REE's P7 brings advanced suspension control to medium-duty EVs
REE Automotive is aiming to be a major
disruptor in the medium-duty truck
space with the rollout of its P7 EV chassis.
The P7 frame is built around its
" REEcorners " suspension, which are
modular suspension units featuring
REE's x-by-wire design. By packaging
components into the area between the
chassis and the wheel, REE claims that
it was able to design the P7 with a completely
flat chassis with up to 35% more
interior volume for passengers, cargo
and batteries.
" The REEcorners suspension system
is the core of the technology that we
built this truck around, " Peter Dow, VP
of engineering for REE Automotive, said
during an interview with Truck & OffHighway
Engineering. " It also allows us
to achieve the level of vehicle dynamics
we were looking for. We were trying to
make a truck that was very exciting and
easy to drive. "
The REE P7 Chassis will initially be
offered in two configurations: a stripped
chassis and cab/chassis. Both can be
customized to customer specifications
and use cases for Class 3-5. REE is
REE was able to design the P7 with a completely flat chassis with up to 35% more interior volume
for passengers, cargo and batteries.
claiming that vehicles built on the P7
Chassis have the industry's lowest stepin
height, are autonomous ready, and
can be powered by either batteries or
fuel cells.
Intelligent integration
The P7 is a radical departure from traditional
medium-duty trucks in terms of
suspension and chassis design.
Compared to traditional ladder-frame,
leaf spring designs, the P7 looks closer
to an IMSA GTP machine under the skin
than a delivery van.
The REEcorners are comprised of
aluminum upper and lower control arms
with a lateral link for steering and twin
fixed-rate oil-charged dampers with
linear-rate coil springs. Each corner also
integrates a hub and drive axle with a
four-piston Brembo caliper.
The corners integrate all critical
functions including steering, braking,
powertrain and chassis control into a
single module at each wheel. This
means that all four wheels of the P7
are completely independent but can
also be managed by a single ECU that
controls all individual functions at each
corner. All vehicle function controls are
also electrified (i.e., drive-, steer- and
brake-by-wire).
" All of the drive unit, steering and
The P7 frame is built around its " REEcorners " modular suspension featuring REE's x-by-wire design.
14 June 2024
braking are managed at each individual
corner, " Dow said. " We were looking
into integrating a lot of control systems,
such as torque vectoring and
rear steer. We wanted a responsive
suspension system to allow us to integrate
those systems. "
The P7 was designed principally for
Class 3 and 4 configurations but can
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
BOTH IMAGES: REE

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024

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