Patent ID: 7017694

Claim:
A battery operated electric vehicle in which an electric motor, transmission, and control circuitry are compactly housed together comprising: a battery, a vehicle body, at least one front and one rear wheel rotatably mounted with respect to said body, a power unit attached to said body and coupled to an axle of at least one of said wheels comprising an electric motor having: a stator including a plurality of coils mounted in less than a 360° circle around an axis of a motor drive shaft, a permanent magnet rotor attached to the motor drive shaft so that said rotor is juxtaposed said plurality of coils with an air gap therebetween, said transmission housed partially within a space interior of said coils, said transmission being substantially coaxial with said motor drive shaft, and said control circuitry mounted substantially within said power unit, said control circuitry substantially located in the space of said 360° circle not occupied by said stator coils.