[RahulNagaraj]

Ree P7-C is an electric commercial delivery truck which is said to be the world's first "everything-by-wire' vehicle. The truck comes with steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire & drive-by-wire, severing all traditional mechanical linkages in the process.

The electric truck comes with the REEcorner tech - a consolidation of all essential vehicle components (steering, braking, powertrain, suspension & control) into a single compact module. The truck comes with 4 such modules, each of them positioned between the chassis and the wheel. Each of the 4 modules is controlled by its ECU, further connected to a central REECentre ECU to manage all corner-level functions.



The company, Ree, states that the 'x-by-wire' as they call it, offers the truck advanced manoeuvrability, improved interior space & ergonomics, better serviceability with streamlined maintenance and a modular design. The company also offers over-the-air software updates, making it future-proof as well.

Daniel Barel, CEO, Ree Automotive, stated, "I believe our REEcorner is a true game changer, allowing us to build electric trucks that fleets will want to buy, and drivers will love to drive as we continue to see a strong demand for our work trucks." He added, "I am incredibly proud of the team at Ree for completing certification of the automotive industry’s first-ever fully x-by-wire vehicle."

The Ree P7-C delivery truck even received its approvals for use on American roads. Richard Colley, VP of Government & Regulatory Affairs, Ree Automotive, stated, "Achieving this certification milestone is a testament to REE’s dedicated team and our determination to bring this technology to market safely." He further mentioned, "The federal and state incentives that the P7-C will be eligible for will help accelerate fleet electrification in the US, helping to improve public health and meet ambitious climate goals."

Source: Electrek

Link to Team-BHP news

[justwheels]

As a tech, I would say this opens up amazing possibilities and such architectures will help fully autonomous driving a lot. Clearly lowered maintenance costs and wear and tear of those umpteen number of mechanicals.

BUT, and a big sad BUT, "How darn lifeless this will be to drive". (I know the use case is not for that but still).

[Aakarsh Gupta]

One software glitch and boom, the whole thing hangs up on you like a mobile phone. I don't know man, call me old school.

[itspatra]

Originally Posted by Aakarsh Gupta

One software glitch and boom, the whole thing hangs up on you like a mobile phone. I don't know man, call me old school.

Yes, a possibility; but remember that flights have been doing this for decades now and we don't even think about it.

[norhog]

NOT a very good idea for a electric vehicle.

What exactly will be the advantage for using such a system.?

I agree it is good for fully automated driving but when it is not driven on automated mode or there is a failure, regular system is better.

By doing away with mechanical linkages, an electric motor or solenoid needs to do all the function. That equals a continuous sapping of electric power, however small, it is a drain.

For example, for steering, an electric motor needs to constantly operate to steer the wheels. This is a continuous electric consumption there. I am not even going into the feedback part if it is deigned into the system.
If you had a regular mechanically linked steering with a EPS, the motor would "ASSIST" at lower speeds and anything above 30 kmph, no electric consumption for steering.

For brakes, again a more powerful electric actuator with host of sensors will be required. If you would have a regular brake only a small vacuum pump will be required to make the servo action.

I wish to understand the design logic here.

Thank you.

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by Aakarsh Gupta

One software glitch and boom, the whole thing hangs up on you like a mobile phone. I don't know man, call me old school.

How about I say "Old is Gold" instead? Absolute truth you said there.

Apart from what you said, water logging, partial damage in accidents, etc may cause unmanageable situations in real life.

Also, I'd trust it a lot more if it were not upgradeable over the air. But firmware upgrade framework puts company at ease, and they never create the best product in one go, always relying on the 'we'll update it later' aspect.

Plus, I can imagine a whole lot of battery drain for functions normally initiated by human, but in context of a truck, it might not influence the range much.
Steer, brake and suspension by wire seem to be mostly unnecessary.
Makes you wonder if the entire target is to have a remotely driven vehicle or self driven vehicle later on, is it?

[Aakarsh Gupta]

Also, I'd trust it a lot more if it were not upgradeable over the air. But firmware upgrade framework puts company at ease, and they never create the best product in one go, always relying on the 'we'll update it later' aspect.

Truth bomb right here. This is my greatest gripe with how our stuff is maintained nowadays. Apart from the electrical complications that might arise (summarised well in @norhog's comment) this 'over the air' stuff is what makes manufacturers and creators complacent with their products. This puts the control of our property into the manufacturer's hands, and I'm well and truly against it.

[thebikemaster]

Wow. Thats nice.. But if this how things come up in future then poor mechanical engineers, mechanics and others related will go jobless

I have been always wondering about the poor people's workshop lately when all these electric cars come into the picture. Like when I was a kid, used to see Senior kind of mechanics who had an old greasy garage to work only on Ambassadors and fiats. No idea where they have gone, soon these stages will come. A sad scary dream indeed.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by justwheels

BUT, and a big sad BUT, "How darn lifeless this will be to drive". (I know the use case is not for that but still).

Not necessarily. An all electric car can be made to feel like any other setup! That is the interesting thing about electrical set up. Much more ways of tuning it.

Just remember electrical steering initially wasn't much. These days many electrical systems provide better feel and feedback than any other system.

Jeroen

[fiat_tarun]

I went through their website to see more of their tech. and I must say it is amazing. This is literally a 'software defined vehicle' and any SW bugs will bring the vehicle to a halt !

Originally Posted by norhog

... This is a continuous electric consumption there. I am not even going into the feedback part if it is deigned into the system.
If you had a regular mechanically linked steering with a EPS, the motor would "ASSIST" at lower speeds and anything above 30 kmph, no electric consumption for steering.

For brakes, again a more powerful electric actuator with host of sensors will be required. If you would have a regular brake only a small vacuum pump will be required to make the servo action.

I wish to understand the design logic here.

Thank you.

The systems are 48V systems and hence current consumption will be much lower than a traditional 12V/24V based system.

I have driven 'Steer-by-wire' prototypes and you will be surprised at how your can create steering feel with many profiles based on driving mode, preferences, etc.

On most EV's, the brakes are already 'decoupled' and are electronically controlled. Only entry level EV's use vacuum pumps which are very inefficient and do not support re-gen. Even the Nexon EV has a vacuum free braking system. Brake by wire is an extension of this where you only need a redundant power supply (of course on a centralised vehicle architecture).

[srini1785]

I can quite understand the negative statements. Every advancement in tech continues to be ridiculed before being accepted. There were times when people thought that a man made object could not fly.

Get over it, this is the brave new world that we are stepping into. For those who think that a single sensor failure could lead to doom, please rethink, do you think that if we could think of this possibility the designers would not have?.

[Batfreak]

Originally Posted by norhog

What exactly will be the advantage for using such a system.?

From the design perspective, one of the big advantages is that this allows you to create a nearly infinitely scalable platform, that can be adapted to any specific consumer need with minimal investment.

In a typical vehicle, the location of the mechanical linkages/physical hard points constraints the design possibilities on top of the platform. Further, it is generally a constraint towards having a completely flat floor (which is good for maximizing space utilization). A completely 'by-wire' system allows continued flexibility for the manufacturer. In effect, think of this as a simple skateboard, on top of which you can place any body format, based on the application. Additionally, the presence of only electronic systems allows for the entire system to be optimized and tuned, based on these new applications.

The way Ree approaches this is even more interesting, however. They will only manufacture the Ree-corner unit (a self-contained unit for each corner, including all the functions required). This can then be applied by any scale manufacturer for their own vehicles. (Related news article)

Final note on the safety of such concepts: Typically, any such systems are designed with adequate redundancy (most often, higher the critical nature of such a function, higher the redundancy).

[mmxylorider]

I believe reliability has come a long way on electric and electronic components. EPS and transmission by wire has become quite common rending multiple components in those systems redundant.

This reduction in overall moving parts and failure points will result in lower cost, upfront as well as maintenance. Moreover, a lot of under the hood and difficult to access repairs will be eliminated.

At some level, I am speculating there is wear and tear/friction reduction playing into the picture.

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by thebikemaster

Wow. Thats nice.. But if this how things come up in future then poor mechanical engineers, mechanics and others related will go jobless

True. But we've seen this before, with advent of electricity and computerisation and all.
People will need to be educated/ trained differently, and for different things. And the show will go on...

Originally Posted by srini1785

I can quite understand the negative statements. Every advancement in tech continues to be ridiculed before being accepted. There were times when people thought that a man made object could not fly.
Get over it, this is the brave new world that we are stepping into. For those who think that a single sensor failure could lead to doom, please rethink, do you think that if we could think of this possibility the designers would not have?.

Ok agreed partially, fear of failure is a minor aspect which you can easily address and perfect over time.
Other aspects being the auto company controlling our life, changing attributes remotely on their decision, monitoring our use & privacy issues and mostly, the possibility of a 'rigged'/ hacked vehicle being used politically and criminally against targets, in all new, unimaginable & vague ways.

For many years, Tesla shipped with defective parts and blamed on external impact to evade warranty. Their evidence? Diagnostic data from the vehicle. And let's not even bring in the discussion their autopilot performance.. which even caused a mass recall recently.
Now in India, Ola went down the same route too.

A single sensor failure can't lead to doom for all of us, agreed, but can we ignore how many EV's have caught fire in India?
And in how many of these cases, the owner paid through his and family members' lives?
And in how many of these, was the owner blamed for the incident?
I'm sure your "get over it" is aimed at Auto manufacturers, because its them who need to get their homework in order, and not we the customers.

In an ethical world, yes, you can create the perfect automated machine that remains in owner's control. Whether our world is ethical or not, this I'll let you decide...

[vamsi.vadrevu]

A completely electronically controlled system can be designed to be very robust and reliable. But it needs proper R&D and testing.

I'm excited to see what the future holds for automobiles.

I just hope, they have a feedback mechanism to relay back what the tyres are feeling. It can be done very well.

In aircrafts, all control surfaces are closed-loop systems, so the pilots can feel everything that's happening on the control surfaces. I think Boeing has something called "envelope protection", which prevents pilots from over-stressing the control surfaces at higher speeds.

A similar thing could be implemented for steering control.

This is a new way of steering cars and it can be radically better or horribly worse! It's all dependent on how it's engineered.

Ultimately, any system is only as good as it's designers. Exceptionally designed German cars from 80s and 90s (read W124) were the pinnacle of mechanical engineering. If such engineering principles are used to build these new control technologies, we'll have no problems.

Otherwise, manufacturers will face backlash (as Tesla did when it introduced the stupid yoke steering)

Perhaps OP could add a poll here asking for opinions on what fellow bhpians think about this new way of controlling vehicles.
Options could be:
1. Excellent. I'm excited to see what new steer by wire, brake by wire and drive by wire feels like
2. I wouldn't touch it with a 20ft barge pole
3. I'll give this technology 30 more years to mature and then try.
4. I'm not interested in knowing how things happen. Give me a steering wheel to get me from A to B. I don't care how the car does it!
5. Put self driving into all the cars already!