Patent ID: 6866114

Claim:
A vehicle transmission comprising: a support, a hub unit for a driven wheel; a drive motor assembly individual to the hub unit and mounted on the support adjacent to the hub unit; a shaft assembly connecting the drive motor assembly to a rotatable part of the hub unit and comprising a shaft connected to a constant-velocity, universal joint at an outboard end of the shaft which is drivingly connected to the rotatable part of the hub unit; a wheel suspension connected between a non-rotatable part of the hub unit and the support; and a rigid tube connecting the non-rotatable part of the hub unit to the motor assembly, said non-rotatable part being pivotally mounted with respect to the tube about the center of articulation of the universal joint, the shaft lying within said tube and being rigidly connected to the motor assembly, and the motor assembly being pivoted to the support about an axis passing through or adjacent to the center of gravity of the motor assembly.