A vehicle-body structure increases comfort inside a vehicle cabin and improves vehicle-body stiffness. A battery housing portion in which a battery is housed and a battery non-housing portion in which the battery is not housed are provided alongside in a vehicle front-rear direction below the vehicle cabin. A second frame portion disposed at the battery non-housing portion is larger than a first frame portion disposed at the battery housing portion in a vehicle width direction.

A drive device (7) for a motor vehicle drive train of an electric vehicle has a plurality of electric machines (12, 13, 14) and a transmission, where different transmission ratios between an input shaft and an output side can be selected. In this case, a first electric machine (13) is connected to the input shaft of the transmission or can be connected thereto, and the output side of the transmission is coupled to at least one output drive (9, 10), which is used in the motor vehicle drive train to connect a respective drive axle of the electric vehicle. In order to achieve the highest possible driving comfort by means of this drive device (7), a second electric machine (14) is also permanently connected to the output side.

A drive device (7) for a motor vehicle drive train of an electric vehicle has a plurality of electric machines (12, 13, 14) and a transmission, where different transmission ratios between an input shaft and an output side can be selected. In this case, a first electric machine (13) is connected to the input shaft of the transmission or can be connected thereto, and the output side of the transmission is coupled to at least one output drive (9, 10), which is used in the motor vehicle drive train to connect a respective drive axle of the electric vehicle. In order to achieve the highest possible driving comfort by means of this drive device (7), a second electric machine (14) is also permanently connected to the output side.

Methods, systems, and networks for controlling design and manufacture of mechanically and electrically compliant VCM-based vehicles, in which a user manually and explicitly defines at least one vehicle characteristic and at least one VCM characteristic. User selection of one or more vehicle characteristics ensures that the selection of VCM characteristics will be that of VCM characteristics compatible with the selected vehicle characteristics. Similarly, user selection of one or more VCMs or VCM characteristics ensures that the selection of vehicle characteristics will be that of vehicle characteristics compatible with the selected VCM or VCM characteristics.

An electric-vehicle-body structure includes a floor panel constituting a floor of an occupant space, a center frame disposed to be higher than and away from the floor panel at a vehicle-width-direction central portion of the occupant space, extending in a front-rear direction, and including a bend portion at an intermediate portion, and a connecting member connecting the bend portion to the floor panel.

A vehicle-body structure may include a floor panel, a center frame disposed to be higher than and away from the floor panel, and an air-conditioning device. The air-conditioning device may include an air distribution portion that is positioned higher than a front portion of the center frame and distributes generated air-conditioned air to each portion of an occupant space, and under-feet ducts that guide air-conditioned air to a lower side. The under-feet ducts each may extend downward from the upper side of the center frame through a vehicle-width-direction outer side of the center frame.

To increase the stiffness of a floor panel while maintaining a large foot space for a rear-seat passenger. A vehicle-body structure includes a floor panel constituting a floor provided with front-row and rear-row seats, and a center frame disposed to be higher than and away from the floor panel at a vehicle-width-direction central portion and extending in a vehicle front-rear direction. A recessed portion having a bottom surface on which the feet of a passenger sitting on the rear-row seat can be placed is formed at the floor panel. The floor panel includes a cross member extending in a vehicle width direction at a rear portion of the recessed portion. A rear portion of the center frame is connected to the cross member.

An example apparatus disclosed herein includes a first frame subassembly and a second frame subassembly, each of the first and second frame subassemblies defining a wheel axle of a vehicle, the first frame subassembly including a first bridge portion oriented generally upward relative to the wheel axle, the second frame subassembly including a second bridge portion oriented generally downward relative to the wheel axle, and a central frame couplable to the first frame subassembly via the first bridge portion and couplable to the second frame subassembly via the second bridge portion, the central frame configured for a first ride height when coupled to the first frame subassembly and configured for a second ride height when coupled to the second frame subassembly, the first ride height greater than the second ride height.

Vehicle chassis with interchangeable performance packages and related methods. are disclosed herein. An example vehicle chassis disclosed herein includes a frame including a first chassis portion including a cavity, a battery platform coupled to first chassis portion, and a first subframe couplable within the cavity, the first subframe including a first motor and a first suspension assembly, and a second subframe couplable within the cavity, the second subframe including a second motor and a second suspension assembly, the second motor having a greater power than the first motor, the second suspension assembly having a greater stiffness than the first suspension assembly.

A vehicle corner module (VCM) is provided for regulating motion of a host vehicle which comprises a vehicle-on-board vehicle-controller. The VCM comprises a sub-frame mountable to a reference frame of the host vehicle; a wheel-hub assembly comprising a wheel-hub; VCM-sub-systems mediating between the sub-frame and the wheel-hub assembly, e.g., a drive subsystem, a steering subsystem, a suspension subsystem and/or a braking subsystem; and an VCM-onboard VCM-controller, comprising one or more processors and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to establish a communication link with a vehicle-controller, including electronically transferring information about the VCM from the VCM-controller to the vehicle-controller, and to perform, in response to an installation of the VCM on a vehicle, a post-installation validation-process that includes validating the VCM-subsystems and communicating a result of the validating to the vehicle-controller.