A vehicle drive device includes: an input shaft that receives a driving force of a driving source and that is provided with a first gear; an intermediate shaft that is provided with a second gear meshing with the first gear and a third gear located next to the second gear in a direction of a rotation axis and that is disposed in such a manner that the intermediate shaft is allowed to move in the direction of the rotation axis; an output shaft that is provided with a fourth gear meshing with the third gear; a first gear pair including the first and second gears; and a second gear pair including the third and fourth gears. One of the first gear pair and the second gear pair includes a helical gear, and the other of the first gear pair and the second gear pair includes a double helical gear.

A vehicle caravan comprising electric vehicles configured for coordinated movement and airflow control comprising: a lead vehicle and chase vehicle, the lead vehicle disposed at the front of the caravan and the chase vehicle disposed behind the lead vehicle in a chase pattern. Each lead and chase vehicle comprising: a vehicle chassis and a front rotatable vehicle drive axle; a selectively movable electric propulsion motor comprising a rotatable motor shaft and motor axis configured to be oriented in a substantially vertical direction; an air duct configured to direct an airflow to the propulsion motor; an airflow shutter in the front end of the air duct to selectively control the airflow within the air duct; and a vehicle controller; the caravan and chase pattern configured for coordination of the motor position and the open/closed position of the lead and chase vehicle shutters while the caravan is moving.

A vehicle caravan comprising electric vehicles configured for coordinated movement and airflow control comprising: a lead vehicle and chase vehicle, the lead vehicle disposed at the front of the caravan and the chase vehicle disposed behind the lead vehicle in a chase pattern. Each lead and chase vehicle comprising: a vehicle chassis and a front rotatable vehicle drive axle; a selectively movable electric propulsion motor comprising a rotatable motor shaft and motor axis configured to be oriented in a substantially vertical direction; an air duct configured to direct an airflow to the propulsion motor; an airflow shutter in the front end of the air duct to selectively control the airflow within the air duct; and a vehicle controller; the caravan and chase pattern configured for coordination of the motor position and the open/closed position of the lead and chase vehicle shutters while the caravan is moving.

A four-wheel-drive vehicle including a powertrain operable to adjust a front- and rear-wheel driving force ratio that is a ratio between a driving force of front wheels and a driving force of rear wheels includes a control device that controls the powertrain and adjusts the front- and rear-wheel driving force ratio so as to reduce the driving force of the front wheels that are steered wheels, when it is detected that emergency avoidance to avoid collision with an avoidance target ahead in a traveling direction is necessary.

A traction control device and method for a four-wheel drive electric vehicle are disclosed. When the drive wheels of an electric vehicle spin, a drive force of the electric vehicle is controlled so as to restrain the spinning of the drive wheels and to secure the starting performance and acceleration performance of the electric vehicle.

A vehicle drive device includes a control device, and the control device controls an electric motor, a first pressing mechanism and a second pressing mechanism such that a relational expression of T<T.sub.1+T.sub.2 is satisfied, where T represents a torque that is input to an input rotation member, T.sub.1 represents a maximum of a torque that is able to be transmitted by a first multi-disc clutch and T.sub.2 represents a maximum of a torque that is able to be transmitted by a second multi-disc clutch.

A body-on-frame vehicle includes a left frame rail, a right frame rail, a plate, a plurality of cross-members, a plurality of power storage modules, and a first electric motor. The plate is attached to both frame rails. The plurality of cross-members are attached to both frame rails. Adjacent cross-members cooperate with the plate and frame rails to define compartments. The plurality of power storage modules are disposed within a plurality of the compartments. The first electric motor is supported by a section of the frame rails forward or rearward of the power storage modules.

This disclosure details exemplary electrical architectural layouts for distributing high voltage power within electrified vehicles. An exemplary battery pack associated with an electrical architectural layout of an electrified vehicle may include an enclosure assembly that houses one or more battery arrays. The battery arrays may be efficiently arranged relative to one another inside the enclosure assembly to establish an open channel within the enclosure assembly. A high voltage wiring harness may be routed through an interior of the battery pack within the open channel. The exemplary electrical architectural layouts of this disclosure may be employed within all-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or front-wheel drive electrified vehicles.

An electric vehicle includes first and second traveling motors, first and second rotational position sensors, and a measurement controller. The first rotational position sensor detects a rotation angle of the first traveling motor and has a first wheel-speed range in which a deviation of an original position of the first rotational position sensor is measurable. The second rotational position sensor detects a rotation angle of the second traveling motor and has a second wheel-speed range in which a deviation of an original position of the second rotational position sensor is measurable. The second wheel-speed range differs from the first wheel-speed range. The measurement controller executes, in an execution order, measurements of the deviations of the original positions of the first and second rotational position sensors while the electric vehicle is traveling, and switch the execution order on the basis of acceleration or deceleration data of the electric vehicle.

A four-wheel drive vehicle comprises: main drive wheels and sub-drive wheels; a first input rotating member; a first output rotating member; a second input rotating member; a second output rotating member; a first dog clutch; a second dog clutch; a synchromesh mechanism. In the case of canceling a disconnect state in which the power transmitting member interrupts power transmission from the drive power source and the sub-drive wheels, the control device controls an engagement torque of the coupling to a preset first torque and operates the synchromesh mechanism to engage the first dog clutch when it is determined that the rotation speeds are synchronized between the second input rotating member and the second output rotating member, and controls the engagement torque of the coupling to a second torque smaller than the first torque to engage the second dog clutch when it is determined that the first dog clutch is engaged.