A side by side vehicle is disclosed having a vehicle frame having frame tubes extending from a front to a rear. A vehicle seat frame is positioned in a mid portion of the frame, and positions a seat frame at a raised position relative to the frame tubes. A powertrain is positioned rearward of the vehicle seat frame and is coupled to the vehicle frame. Side by side seats are supported by the seat frame; and one or more storage units are positioned under the side by side seats. The side by side vehicle also has a rear suspension comprising at least one rear alignment arm coupled to each side of a rear of the vehicle frame, where the alignment arms are coupled to the vehicle frame at front and rear connection points. A distance between the front connection points is greater than a distance between the rear connection points, and at least a portion of the powertrain is positioned between the front connection points of the alignment arms.

A transverse link has an inboard side and an outboard side. A steering knuckle has an upper end, a wheel supporting section and a lower end. The lower end is pivotally coupled to the outboard side of the transverse link. A strut has an upper end and a lower end. An upper knuckle breakaway structure attaches the upper end of the steering knuckle to the lower end of the strut. The upper knuckle breakaway structure has a frangible part that releases the upper end of the steering knuckle from the lower end of the strut upon application of a prescribed rearward directed force. A transverse link breakaway structure couples the inboard side of the transverse link to a lower suspension support structure such that upon application of the prescribed rearward directed force the inboard side of the transverse link is released from the lower suspension support structure.

A suspension arm has an elongated shape. The suspension arm is shaped such that a line defining an outer shape of the suspension arm does not coincide with a line of force transmission, but a line extending through a shearing center point of each of a plurality of cross sections of the suspension arm coincides with the line of force transmission.

A suspension structure includes a trailing arm that couples a hub support portion supporting a wheel hub to a vehicle body. The trailing arm includes a vehicle body side attachment portion attached to the vehicle body, and a hub side attachment portion attached to the hub support portion. The hub side attachment portion is positioned below a shortest virtual line connecting a center of the vehicle body side attachment portion and a rotation center of the wheel hub.

The four wheel vehicle uses an electric motor (142) for driving the vehicle and a battery unit (160) for supplying electric power to the electric motor. The lower chassis (5) of the vehicle includes a pair of front side frames (10) extending linearly in a fore and aft direction with an upward slant and a progressively increasing lateral mutual spacing from a front part thereof to a rear part thereof and a plurality of cross members (14, 16, 18) connecting the front side frames to each other. The battery unit is positioned between the two front side frames such that the battery unit overlaps with the front side frames in side view. Thereby, the battery unit can be effectively protected from side impacts.

The four wheel vehicle uses an electric motor (142) for driving the vehicle and a battery unit (160) for supplying electric power to the electric motor. The lower chassis (5) of the vehicle includes a pair of front side frames (10) extending linearly in a fore and aft direction with an upward slant and a progressively increasing lateral mutual spacing from a front part thereof to a rear part thereof, a pair of rear side frames (12) connected to rear ends of the respective front side frames, and extending linearly in a fore and aft direction with an upward slant from a front part thereof to a rear part thereof in continuation of the corresponding front side frames in a mutually parallel relationship, and a plurality of cross members (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) connecting the side frames to each other.

A vehicle suspension includes and axle. An upper control arm bracket is fixedly positioned relative to the axle and defines a first axis. An upper control arm is rotatably coupled to the upper control arm bracket about the first axis. A lower control arm bracket is fixedly positioned relative to the axle and defines a second axis. A lower control arm is rotatably coupled to the lower control arm bracket about the second axis. An upper control arm relocation bracket is configured to be mounted to the axle and includes a clevis defining a third axis and configured to rotatably couple the upper control arm about the third axis. The relocation bracket includes a first aperture coaxial with the first axis when the relocation bracket is mounted to the axle and a second aperture coaxial with the second axis when the relocation bracket is mounted to the axle.

Methods and systems are provided for an electric heavy-duty vehicle. In one example, a system for the vehicle may include a wheel hub assembly coupled to a frame of the vehicle via a first wishbone arm and a second wishbone arm, and an air spring coupled at opposite ends to a first link and a second link, each of the first link and the second link being pivotably coupled to the frame of the vehicle, the second link further being pivotably coupled to the first wishbone arm. The air spring may be positioned above the wheel hub assembly with respect to the vehicle.

A holding element for a spring, having a spring fastening area (10) for fastening the leaf spring (2) to the holding element (5) and a wheel carrier fastening area (9) for fastening a wheel carrier (4) to the leaf spring (2). The holding element (5) has a deformation zone (23) through which webs and openings extend for transmission of forces from the spring fastening area (10) to the wheel carrier fastening area (9), such that the webs (S2.1, S2:2, S3.1, S3.2) and the openings (A1, A2, A3) are formed mirror-symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis (L) of the holding element.

A dual-interface coupler includes a utilities unit, a number of utility cables configured to provide a number of utilities to the utilities unit, a first coupling unit associated with the utilities unit, and a second coupling unit associated with the utilities unit. The first coupling unit is configured to mechanically couple the utilities unit to a first corresponding coupling unit and comprises a utility interface. The number of utilities are configured to flow from the utilities unit through the utilities interface. The second coupling unit is configured to mechanically couple the second coupling unit to a second corresponding coupling unit.