Drive assembly for independently driving vehicle wheels

A drive assembly (10) for independently driving wheels of a vehicle is disclosed. The drive assembly includes a wheel set (12) positioned at a left or right side of the vehicle. The wheel set includes inner and outer wheels (14) and tires (20) associated with the inner and outer wheels. A drive mechanism (24), such as an electric motor, rotatably drives the inner and outer wheels. The drive assembly further includes a differential (34) disposed between the inner and outer wheels and responds to the drive mechanism to permit one of the inner and outer wheels to rotate independant of the other of the inner and outer wheels. That is, upon a turn of the vehicle, the differential permits the inner and outer wheels to realize different rotational speeds as the inner and outer wheels are being rotatably driven by the drive mechanism. As such, scrubbing or dragging of the tires associated with the wheels is eliminated. Additionally, the drive assembly of the subject invention can incorporate a second wheel set and tires, a second drive mechanism, and a second differential positioned at the opposite side of the vehicle to eliminate scrubbing of the tires associated with the second wheel set.