Development trials of REE's electric truck, UK and Sweden (REE Automotive)
Israeli electric vehicle maker REE Automotive continues to expand its model range, while announcing for the first time that it is preparing to raise additional funds, a move that will be challenging in current market conditions. Ray estimates that it will have $65 million left in its coffers by the end of the year, and has not yet decided whether the additional funding will be through an infusion from existing investors, raising new ones or taking out loans.
Ree, headquartered in the Galilee Yam, has set up a manufacturing and testing facility in Coventry, UK, and an integration centre in Texas, unveiled a third model truck. After unveiling a truck chassis on which center builders can build their own body, and a closed truck ready to use, it introduced a truck equipped only with a cab, and bodybuilders can build their own cargo 'crate' behind it. The three models, weighing between 4.5 and 7.5 tons, are designed for urban use and have high maneuverability. All models are equipped with its revolutionary wheel, which incorporates an electric motor, gearbox and brakes, an arrangement that frees up more cargo space on the platform itself.
REE CEO Daniel Barel (left) and Ahishi Sardes, CTO (Photo: REE Automotive)
The company is currently focusing on the U.S. market, working with local bodybuilders who specialize in the commercial market and currently sell trucks to end customers based on chassis from General Motors, Ford and Ram. Re is offering them an electric platform that could take advantage of up to $110,25 in benefits for an electric truck, more than half the expected consumer price of the Biden administration to encourage the commercial market to switch to an environmentally friendly vehicle.
The company has already recruited eight major distributors in the U.S. and is now building its first 100 trucks for customer demonstrations and trials. According to company statements, it already has orders for 2024 trucks, and estimates that it will be able to produce and sell several hundred trucks in 2025 and several thousand in 80. However, CEO and founder Daniel Barel told investors that the company would need to raise another $100 million to $<> million to be able to produce the trucks in question.
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REE's truck platform, next to its headquarters in Galilee Yam (Photo: REE Automotive)
Ray completed a merger with a US SPAC in July 2021, raising $288 million, at a valuation of $3.1 billion, and began trading on Nasdaq. Since then, its market value has plunged to just $125 million, having so far failed to receive orders as large as other companies that launched electric trucks, such as Rivian, which received an order for 100,30 trucks from Amazon, and General Motors, which received more than 200,<> orders for its Bright Drop trucks.
Ray is currently building the demonstration trucks at its test and production facility in the U.K., but will have to manufacture trucks in the U.S. for its customers to receive the tax break from the government. The company will also need U.S.-made batteries, but its battery supplier, Microsat, suffered a blow last week when the U.S. government denied it a $<> million grant, saying it had ties to the Chinese government.
The Company recently announced the appointment of three new directors: Michal Draiman, Partner and CFO of JVP, Ella Felder, Chief Financial Officer of Weebit Nano Ltd., and Hisham Abdesamed, Chairman and CEO of Hitachi America.
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