An electric motor, a wheel, and drive apparatus for an electric vehicle are described and claimed. One aspect of the described invention is drive apparatus for an electrically powered vehicle, the drive apparatus including: a motor comprising a stator assembly and a rotor assembly, the stator assembly including a ferrous stator core; and a brake assembly biased to inhibit rotation of the rotor assembly, and including brake release means operable to permit substantially free rotation of the rotor assembly, the brake release means comprising a ferrous member and an electromagnet operable to exert an attractive force on the ferrous member, the electromagnet comprising windings and a ferrous yoke, the ferrous yoke including a portion of the stator core. The motor may be a dc brushless motor, the rotor having a plurality of permanent magnets arranged to interact with rotating magnetic fields produced by the stator assembly. The portion of the stator core decreases the reluctance of the brake electromagnet magnetic circuit and yields and increased attractive force for a given brake windings excitation (i.e. number of ampere turns).