Patent ID: 8672070

Claim:
A vehicle comprising: a chassis; a traction member associated with the chassis; a drive system associated with the chassis and the traction member comprising an electric traction motor including a housing, a stator, and a rotor; and a planetary gear assembly coupled to the electric traction motor, the planetary gear assembly comprising a ring gear, a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears configured to engage meshingly the ring gear and the sun gear, and a carrier connected to the plurality of planet gears, the carrier providing an output member coupled to the traction member, the ring gear configured for selective connection to the housing and the rotor, and the sun gear configured for selective connection to the housing and the rotor; wherein rotation of the output member provides a drive torque for the traction member; wherein the planetary gear assembly receives an input rotation from the rotor; wherein the carrier is rotated with a first gear ratio when the ring gear is connected to the rotor and the sun gear is connected to the housing; and wherein the carrier is rotated with a second gear ratio when the sun gear is connected to the rotor and the ring gear is connected to the housing.