Patent ID: 8006789

Claim:
An electric vehicle, comprising: at least one drive wheel; and a power plant adapted to supply torque for causing rotation of the at least one drive wheel, wherein the power plant comprises at least one switched reluctance motor, the switched reluctance motor comprising: a stator having a plurality of stator poles; a rotor having a plurality of rotor poles and configured to rotate a shaft supplying the torque about an axis of rotation; wherein each of the stator poles comprises: a primary stator pole; and an auxiliary stator pole, wherein the auxiliary stator pole is axially aligned with the primary stator pole in the direction of the axis of rotation; wherein each rotor pole has a length extending in the direction of the axis of rotation sufficient to at least partially cover both the primary stator pole and axially aligned auxiliary stator pole; and wherein each rotor pole supports an axial magnetic flux path extending between the primary stator pole and the axially aligned auxiliary stator pole.