A strut assembly for a suspension corner employed in a vehicle having a vehicle body and a road wheel includes a damper. The strut assembly also includes an elastic unit having at least one spring module acting in concert with the damper to suspend the vehicle body relative to the road wheel. Each spring module has a positive stiffness spring arranged in parallel with a negative stiffness spring. A vehicle that has a suspension corner employing the elastic unit and is configured to maintain contact between the road wheel and the road surface and provide isolation of vibration between the road wheel and the vehicle body is also contemplated.

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.

A strut assembly for a suspension corner employed in a vehicle having a vehicle body and a road wheel includes a damper. The strut assembly also includes an elastic unit having at least one spring module acting in concert with the damper to suspend the vehicle body relative to the road wheel. Each spring module has a positive stiffness spring arranged in parallel with a negative stiffness spring. A vehicle that has a suspension corner employing the elastic unit and is configured to maintain contact between the road wheel and the road surface and provide isolation of vibration between the road wheel and the vehicle body is also contemplated.

A tension leaf assembly includes an S-shaped leaf member, an auxiliary spring, and a coupling assembly. The leaf member includes a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal center disposed between the first and second ends, and also includes a suspension portion extending from the first end past the longitudinal center and a bend portion extending from the suspension portion to the second end. The auxiliary spring is operably coupled to the leaf member at the longitudinal center and extends in a direction parallel to the leaf member. The auxiliary spring includes first and second free ends facing away from the suspension and bend portions, respectively. The coupling assembly operably couples the leaf member to the auxiliary spring at the longitudinal center, and includes a positioner disposed between the auxiliary spring and the leaf member and a holding bracket to engage a wheel axle of the vehicle.