Patent ID: 7530912

Claim:
A motor assembly comprising: a stator supported by a stator housing; a rotor supported by a rotor housing and rotatable about an axis relative to said stator, wherein said rotor housing defines an internal cavity; a gear assembly coupled to said rotor and positioned within said internal cavity wherein said gear assembly comprises at least one planetary gear set including a sun gear coupled to said rotor, a ring gear fixed to said stator housing, a plurality of planet gears in meshing engagement with said sun gear and said ring gear, and a planet carrier supporting said plurality of planet gears; at least one bearing positioned directly between said rotor housing and said ring gear; a driveline component coupled directly to said planet carrier wherein said gear assembly and said rotor cooperate to rotate said rotor at a faster speed than said driveline component to allow the motor assembly to operate in a more efficient operating range for low speed vehicle applications; and wherein said driveline component comprises a single through-shaft that provides both input to the motor assembly and output from the motor assembly, and wherein driveline component comprises at least one of an engine output member, a transmission input member, a transmission output member, and an axle input member.