Electric cars: Global supply shortages discussed by expert
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Electric vehicle startup REE has given the UK’s automotive industry a major boost as it is set to build a $15million (£12.1million) manufacturing hub in the UK. The plant, which will be built in Coventry, is set to produce bases or platforms for 10,000 cars a year. The site, which will be heavily automated, will focus on creating the platforms for its vehicle, after which bespoke “corners” can be integrated into the base.
The facility was a massive win for the UK’s hopes of attracting new investments in the EV industry, with REE experts adding that Brexit played a key in helping them set up their hub.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Peter Dow, REE’s VP of Engineering said: “Brexit and the period of uncertainty that the automotive industry went through, helped us with recruitment in particular.
“We saw that a number of firms were uncertain of the future and they didn’t know how it was going to work.
“People were probably more inclined to move and join an innovative technology firm like ourselves and try and develop these projects of the future.
“We can’t say that we wouldn’t have done it without Brexit but it allowed that marketplace to be a bit more open for the talent and the lack of competition.
“It allowed us to access UK-based talent.”
The company has partnered with the likes of Toyota’s truck arm Hino, Magna Steyr in Austria and JB Poindexter in the US, which will add the rest of the build.
Mr Dow added that they are completely “focused on our UK based operation”.
He added: “We’ve built up strong and a lot of people have been looking for change really, from working with gasoline engines or traditional automotive companies, to working with a company that’s trying to produce a zero-emission electric vehicle that will hopefully change the industry symbolically i suppose with the change in Brexit as well.”
REE has stated it uses a different approach to EVs and its model allows it to cater for various different vehicles without using expensive manufacturing equipment.
While the technology for the platforms was developed in Israel, REE founder Daniel Barel previously praised the UK as being the brains behind the breakthrough.
Mr Dow noted that the UK has a massive pool of engineering talent that he felt was often underutilised by conventional car companies.
He said: “Historically, we in the UK have had a large number of different car companies in the 40s, 50s.
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“There were a lot of people developing a lot of different vehicles, bespoke vehicles, and that innovation, that ability to work with new products is still quite strong within the UK workforce.
“We are using the innovative nature of modern engineers that we have here, that are probably if we’re being honest, have been kept under lock and key quite a bit over the past few years because the automotive industry has been very much about repeatability, producing pretty much the same thing, or making it more efficient.
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