Electric vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle is provided including a frame assembly. The frame assembly includes a front frame module, a middle frame module, and a rear frame module. The front frame module is fastened to a front portion of the middle frame module. The rear frame module is fastened to a rear portion of the middle frame module. The middle frame module is interchangeable with at least one other middle frame module to change a length of the vehicle.

1 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A method of manufacturing a vehicle including:
 receiving orders for a plurality of vehicles;   selecting a front frame module and a rear frame module for each vehicle, the front frame module being common for each vehicle and the rear frame module being common for each vehicle;   selecting a middle frame module from a plurality of middle frame modules for each vehicle based on the order, each middle frame module of the plurality of middle frame modules having a different size; and   assembling the front frame module, the selected middle frame module, and the rear frame module together for each vehicle.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of middle frame modules includes a first middle frame module and a second middle frame module, and the first middle frame module is configured to support fewer seats than the second middle frame module. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further including coupling a seat support to the middle frame module. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of middle frame modules have a different length and include a different number of seat frames. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein each middle frame module includes a cab frame and a floor frame configured to support a seating area. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further including determining a size of a floor of the vehicle based on the order and coupling at least one floor panel to the floor frame. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein determining the size of the floor includes selecting a size of the at least one floor panel from a plurality of sizes of floor panels based on the order, each floor panel having a different size based on the corresponding selected middle frame module. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein coupling the at least one floor panel to the floor frame includes coupling a plurality of floor panels to each other and the floor frame based on the order. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the assembling includes coupling the front frame module to a forward frame of the middle frame module with fasteners and coupling the rear frame module to a rear portion of the middle frame module with fasteners. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , further including coupling a common suspension assembly to at least one of the front and rear frame modules of each vehicle, and adjusting a stiffness of the suspension assembly of each vehicle based on the selected middle frame module. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 15 , the middle frame module including a left steering assembly mount and a right steering assembly mount, further including assembling a steering assembly to one of the left and right steering assembly mounts for each vehicle based on the order. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 15 , the rear frame module being configured to support a plurality of accessory attachments. 
     
     
         27 - 30 . (canceled)