Electric vehicle platform

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11161402-B2
Application number	US-202117142889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2021
Priority date	May 20, 2019
Publication date	Nov 2, 2021
Grant date	Nov 2, 2021

Abstract

Vehicle platforms, and systems, subsystems, and components thereof are described. A self-contained vehicle platform or chassis incorporating substantially all of the functional systems, subsystems and components (e.g., mechanical, electrical, structural, etc.) necessary for an operative vehicle. Functional components may include at least energy storage/conversion, propulsion, suspension and wheels, steering, crash protection, and braking systems. Functional components are standardized such that vehicle platforms may be interconnected with a variety of vehicle body designs (also referred to in the art as “top hats”) with minimal or no modification to the functional linkages (e.g., mechanical, structural, electrical, etc.) therebetween. Configurations of functional components are incorporated within the vehicle platform such that there is minimal or no physical overlap between the functional components and the area defined by the vehicle body. Specific functional components of such vehicle platforms, and the relative placement of the various functional components, to allow for implementation of a self-contained vehicle platform are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained vehicle platform comprising:
a plurality of interconnected structural components, each of the interconnected structural components comprising a body with a top element, a bottom element, and side elements, wherein the interconnected structural components when interconnected form a generally flat planar frame structure having a front portion, a rear portion, and a center portion, and wherein the frame structure further comprises a top portion and a bottom portion corresponding to the top elements and the bottom elements, respectively;
a propulsion system comprising a drive motor disposed in at least one of the front and rear portions of the frame structure, the drive motor connected to at least one of the interconnected structural components and to a transmission system that is connected to at least one set of drive wheels;
a plurality of suspension systems disposed within the front and rear portions of the frame structure, each of the suspension systems having a set of control arm assemblies, each of the control arm assemblies having proximal and distal ends where the proximal end is connected to the frame structure and the distal end is connected to a wheel in the at least one set of drive wheels;
an energy storage system disposed within the center portion of the frame structure and comprising a plurality of independent battery modules electronically connected to an inverter system that is electronically connected to the propulsion system, wherein the independent battery modules are enclosed within a sealed space by a top seal plate and a bottom seal plate connected to the frame structure; and
a plurality of attachment points configured to be connected to a vehicle body, the plurality of attachment points including sealable attachment points connected to or forming a part of the frame structure and extending upward through the top seal plate, the sealable attachment points configured to seal the sealed space;
wherein the propulsion system, the suspension systems, and the energy storage system are disposed within boundaries of the frame structure of the vehicle platform such that the propulsion system, the suspension systems, and the energy storage system do not extend above the drive wheels.

2. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , further comprising a transverse leaf spring, the transverse leaf spring connected to multiple ones of the control arm assemblies and to the frame structure through a plurality of connection points.

3. The vehicle platform of claim 2 , wherein the transverse leaf spring is disposed beneath the drive motor and is contoured in a vertically downward direction relative to the drive motor such that deformation of the transverse leaf spring does not interfere with the propulsion system.

4. The vehicle platform of claim 3 , further comprising one or more spacers disposed between the transverse leaf spring and the frame structure.

5. The vehicle platform of claim 3 , wherein:
the drive motor is disposed within a motor housing,
the motor housing has a contoured outer perimeter,
at least a portion of a lower face of the contoured outer perimeter is configured to correspond to at least one portion of an outer perimeter of a plurality of gears of the transmission system such that an indented portion of the motor housing is defined, and
the transverse leaf spring is disposed such that the transverse leaf spring is positioned beneath and in-line with the indented portion of the motor housing.

6. The vehicle platform of claim 5 , wherein:
the outer perimeter of the plurality of gears defines a figure eight,
the motor housing is arranged such that the figure eight is tilted relative to a vertical axis, and
a center portion of the transverse leaf spring is disposed beneath a portion of the motor housing corresponding to an uppermost portion of the tilted figure eight.

7. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , wherein:
the center portion of the frame structure is subdivided by one or more structural support elements into a plurality of isolated compartments, and
the independent battery modules comprise a plurality of modular elements distributed in a multiplicity of the isolated compartments.

8. The vehicle platform of claim 7 , wherein the one or more structural support elements are connected to the independent battery modules.

9. The vehicle platform of claim 7 , wherein the one or more structural support elements comprise a plurality of lateral and/or longitudinal structural support elements disposed in the center portion of the frame structure, each of the lateral and/or longitudinal structural support elements having an elongated body with (i) an upper portion and a lower portion being planar with the top and bottom portions of the frame structure, respectively, and (ii) a first end and a second end.

10. The vehicle platform of claim 7 , wherein at least some of the sealable attachment points are disposed on the top portion of the frame structure in association with the one or more structural support elements, the sealable attachment points corresponding to cooperating mounting apertures on the vehicle body.

11. The vehicle platform of claim 10 , wherein the top seal plate comprises a plurality of holes corresponding to the sealable attachment points, and wherein each of the holes surrounds the corresponding sealable attachment point.

12. The vehicle platform of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of seal caps, each of the seal caps having a contoured body with an outside surface and an inside surface such that the inside surface cooperatively engages with a corresponding sealable attachment point, wherein the contoured body further comprises a flange portion extending outward from the contoured body near a bottom portion of the contoured body by a dimension such that the dimension of the flange portion exceeds a dimension of the corresponding hole.

13. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , further comprising a front crumple zone and a rear crumple zone, wherein the interconnected structural components associated with the front and rear portions of the frame structure are configured to absorb energy from a directional impact and prevent transmission of the energy to additional portions of the frame structure.

14. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of lateral energy absorbers, wherein the lateral energy absorbers are disposed along outer sides of the center portion of the frame structure and are configured to absorb energy from a lateral impact and reduce damage to the center portion of the frame structure.

15. The vehicle platform of claim 14 , wherein the lateral energy absorbers are disposed to reduce damage to the independent battery modules disposed within the central portion of the frame structure.

16. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of rigid planar heating and cooling elements disposed in association with the independent battery modules.

17. The vehicle platform of claim 16 , wherein the independent battery modules are arranged within the center portion of the frame structure such that the rigid planar heating and cooling elements are arranged both laterally and longitudinally relative to the frame structure.

18. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , wherein the front and rear portions of the frame structure are vertically elevated relative to the center portion of the frame structure such that the frame structure has an undulating contour.

19. The vehicle platform of claim 1 , wherein the attachment points represent a

Assignees

• Canoo Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mccarron Daniel George
• Charbonneau Alexi
• Rohr William J
• Garmel Charles
• Haeusler Felix
• Rosso Nathaniel Risler
• Mason John
• Agrawal Mayurkumar Ashokbhal
• Weicker Phillip John
• Merchant Sohel
• Lyu Naesung
• Ang Chung Shen
• Walsh Jeffrey

Classifications

• B62D24/00

  Connections between vehicle body and vehicle frame (B62D23/00, B62D33/077 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60G7/001

  Suspension arms, e.g. constructional features (B60G7/006 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K1/02

  comprising more than one electric motor · CPC title

• B62D21/152

  Front or rear frames · CPC title

• B60K2001/005

  the electric storage means · CPC title