Patent 7743863 was granted and assigned to NISSAN MOTOR CO.,LTD. on June, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A carrying structure for a vehicle battery includes a vehicle floor panel having a step portion that rises upward toward a rear of the vehicle. A battery is arranged at the step portion for feeding electric power to a driving motor that drives driving wheels of the vehicle. A seat is arranged above the battery, and a tip-up mechanism enables the seat to tip up toward a front of the vehicle with a front part of the seat serving as a rotational pivot.