US-20260124893-A1 - VEHICLE UNDERBODY STRUCTURE

US20260124893A1US 20260124893 A1US20260124893 A1US 20260124893A1US-20260124893-A1

Abstract

A vehicle underbody structure includes: a battery case mounted in a lower portion of a vehicle, at least a portion of an upper wall of the battery case also serving as a floor panel; a battery module housed within the battery case; and a detector housed within the battery case and configured to detect a voltage abnormality of the battery module. An opening configured to allow access to the detector is provided in the upper wall of the battery case, and a lid configured to open and close the opening is provided.

Inventors

Katsunori HIGASHIHARA

Assignees

TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251021
Priority Date: 20241105

Claims (4)

1 . A vehicle underbody structure comprising: a battery case mounted in a lower portion of a vehicle, at least a portion of an upper wall of the battery case also serving as a floor panel; a battery module housed within the battery case; and a detector housed within the battery case, the detector being configured to detect a voltage abnormality of the battery module, wherein an opening configured to allow access to the detector is provided in the upper wall of the battery case, and a lid configured to open and close the opening is provided.
2 . The vehicle underbody structure according to claim 1 , wherein the opening is provided in the upper wall of the battery case at a position located, as viewed from a side in a vehicle width direction, between a dash panel that constitutes a front wall of a vehicle cabin and an accelerator pedal.
3 . The vehicle underbody structure according to claim 2 , wherein: the opening is provided such that a longitudinal direction of the opening extends in the vehicle width direction; and an upper surface of a front cross member extending between a pair of right and left rockers at a position below the dash panel in a vehicle up-down direction is substantially flush with an upper surface of the upper wall of the battery case.
4 . The vehicle underbody structure according to claim 1 , wherein: the opening is provided such that a longitudinal direction of the opening extends in a vehicle width direction; and a cross portion extending in the vehicle width direction is provided in a portion of an interior of the battery case, the portion being located closer to a lower wall of the battery case and facing the opening in a vehicle up-down direction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-193626 filed on Nov. 5, 2024. The disclosure of the above-identified application, including the specification, drawings, and claims, is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The present disclosure relates to vehicle underbody structures. 2. Description of Related Art A battery electric vehicle provided with a battery case including a case rear having an opening and a case front removably closing the opening is conventionally known in the art (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-255746 (JP 10-255746 A)). SUMMARY In order to maintain or replace a detector configured to detect a voltage abnormality of a battery module housed within a battery case, it is necessary to remove the battery case from a battery electric vehicle and disassemble it. However, in a configuration in which the battery case is mounted in a lower portion of the vehicle, it is not easy to remove the battery case from the vehicle. Accordingly, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle underbody structure that enables a detector configured to detect a voltage abnormality of a battery module housed within a battery case to be maintained or replaced without removing the battery case from a vehicle. In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle underbody structure of a first aspect of the present disclosure includes: a battery case mounted in a lower portion of a vehicle, at least a portion of an upper wall of the battery case also serving as a floor panel; a battery module housed within the battery case; and a detector housed within the battery case and configured to detect a voltage abnormality of the battery module. An opening configured to allow access to the detector is provided in the upper wall of the battery case, and a lid configured to open and close the opening is provided. In the first aspect of the disclosure, the battery case is mounted in the lower portion of the vehicle, and at least a portion of the upper wall of the battery case also serves as the floor panel. The battery module and the detector configured to detect a voltage abnormality of the battery module are housed within the battery case. The opening configured to allow access to the detector is provided in the upper wall of the battery case, and the lid configured to open and close the opening is provided. With the above configuration, the detector can be accessed through the opening by removing the lid. Accordingly, maintenance or replacement of the detector can be performed without removing the battery case from the vehicle. According to a vehicle underbody structure of a second aspect of the present disclosure, in the vehicle underbody structure of the first aspect, the opening is provided in the upper wall of the battery case at a position located, as viewed from a side in a vehicle width direction, between a dash panel that constitutes a front wall of a vehicle cabin and an accelerator pedal. In the second aspect of the disclosure, the opening is provided in the upper wall of the battery case at a position located, as viewed from the side in the vehicle width direction, between the dash panel that constitutes the front wall of the vehicle cabin and the accelerator pedal. In other words, the opening is formed at a location that is not readily accessible by an occupant. This configuration reduces the risk that the lid may be inadvertently removed from inside the vehicle cabin by an occupant, thereby ensuring safety. According to a vehicle underbody structure of a third aspect of the present disclosure, in the vehicle underbody structure of the second aspect, the opening is provided such that a longitudinal direction of the opening extends in the vehicle width direction, and an upper surface of a front cross member extending between a pair of right and left rockers at a position below the dash panel in a vehicle up-down direction is substantially flush with an upper surface of the upper wall of the battery case. In the third aspect of the disclosure, the opening is provided such that its longitudinal direction extends in the vehicle width direction, and the upper surface of the front cross member extending between the right and left rockers at a position below the dash panel in the vehicle up-down direction is substantially flush with the upper surface of the upper wall of the battery case. This configuration makes it possible to achieve both suppression of an increase in the weight of the vehicle and reinforcement in the vicinity of the opening of the battery case to the greatest extent, compared to a case where the upper surface of the front cross member is not made substantially flush with the upper surface of the upper wall of the battery case. As used in the present disclosure, the term “flush” also includes “substantially flush” that includes minor offsets