Patent attributes
A module with an axle assembly, which has a housing, a differential, an input shaft, a pair of shafts and a pair of wheel hubs, and an auxiliary drive unit that includes an electric motor and an overrunning clutch. The differential and the input shaft are disposed in the housing for rotation therein. The differential includes a case and a ring gear that is coupled to the case. The input shaft has a pinion that is meshingly engaged to the ring gear. Each shaft couples the differential to one of the wheel hubs. The overrunning clutch includes an input portion, which is coupled to the output shaft of the electric motor, and an output portion, which is coupled to the input shaft. The output portion is de-coupled from the input portion when a rotational speed of the input portion is not greater than a rotational speed of the output portion.
