Rear axle with integrated electric motor

Abstract

A truck, comprising a rear axle, comprising a motor housing extending laterally between rear wheels of the truck, and an electric motor and power transmission coaxially aligned in said motor housing and arranged for driving the rear wheels; and a suspension system, for suspending the rear axle to a chassis of the truck, said suspension system at least comprising a pair of springs and shock absorbers, and an anti-roll stabilizer and a guiding rod linkage for allowing movement in a vertical direction relative to the chassis; wherein the motor housing is limited by a minimum vertical ground clearance between the road surface and a bottom surface of the motor housing; wherein the motor housing comprises a reinforced central top section providing a guiding rod mount for pivotally mounting the guiding rod linkage to the rear axle; wherein the motor housing further comprises suspension yokes integrated into the housing and extending on either side of the motor housing near both axial ends, said suspension yokes providing spring mounts and shock absorber mounts for mounting said opposed pair of springs and shock absorbers, wherein the motor housing comprises a rear section outer surface provided with connectors, to provide input ports to the electric motor and wherein said connectors are provided in an orientation to guide one or more high voltage power cables adjacent the rear section outer surface in a vertical upward direction.