Ree Automotive gets full by-wire electric certification

Israel-based startup Ree Automotive delivered the first trucks with electronic by-wire technology for steering, braking and driving, achieving certification ahead of legacy automakers.

The Ree P7-C received U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Environmental Protection Agency certification for the technology, which eliminates mechanical linkages that transfer force, such as a hydraulic brake pump.

Instead of electric power steering backed by a traditional steering shaft and mechanical pump, Ree provides redundancy through power electronics. Drivers will “feel” like they are steering. Instead, computer programming generates what drivers think they are experiencing.

“Anytime a company, especially a commercial vehicle company, gets federal approval for a new technology like this, it is significant,” Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for Guidehouse Insights, told FreightWaves.

The federal requirements and regulations do not differentiate between by-wire and non-by-wire. British engineering consultant Horiba Mira pre-certified the Reecorner x-by-wire system in 2023.

“We are the first to do it without a full mechanical backup,” Ree CEO and co-founder Daniel Barel told FreightWaves in August. “When the regulators come to us, they say, ‘We don’t care how you do it. When you show us that if your front brake doesn’t work, show us that you can brake.’”

Source: freightwaves.com