Facing seats-type automated driving vehicle;

A facing seats-type automated driving vehicle, comprising:

• facing seats including:
• a front seat assembly which includes at least a front seat for a first passenger to be seated thereon and a front backrest for the first passenger to keep posture, the front seat assembly being disposed to cause the seated first passenger to face a rearward direction of the vehicle;
• and
• a rear seat assembly which includes at least a rear seat for a second passenger to be seated thereon and a rear backrest for the second passenger to keep posture, the rear seat assembly being disposed to cause the seated second passenger to face a forward direction of the vehicle, and to cause the front backrest and the rear backrest to at least partially face each other;
• a floor deck which has no level difference on an upper surface thereof and is provided to allow the first and second passengers seated on the facing seats to rest their feet;
• and
• a luggage deck for at least one piece of luggage to be placed thereon, the luggage deck including
• a front luggage deck disposed forward of a front end of the floor deck in the forward direction of the vehicle, and
• a rear luggage deck disposed rearward of a rear end of the floor deck in the rearward direction of the vehicle, wherein
• the floor deck and the luggage deck are so arranged that
• each of the front luggage deck and the rear luggage deck is shorter than the floor deck in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, and
• each of an upper surface of the front luggage deck and an upper surface of the rear luggage deck is higher than an upper surface of the floor deck in an up-down direction of the vehicle;
• wherein,
• the facing seats-type automated driving vehicle is free of a driver's seat that is a seat designated for a driver who performs manual driving of the vehicle to be seated thereon;
• a first front space is provided directly above a front seat facing surface, which is part of the upper surface of the floor deck and which faces a bottom surface of the front seat in a state of allowing the first passenger to be seated thereon;
• a first rear space is provided directly above a rear seat facing surface, which is part of the upper surface of the floor deck and which faces a bottom surface of the rear seat in a state of allowing the second passenger to be seated thereon;
• a second front space is provided directly above the front seat in the state of allowing the first passenger to be seated thereon and above the front luggage deck;
• a second rear space is provided directly above the rear seat in the state of allowing the second passenger to be seated thereon and above the rear luggage deck;
• the facing seats include at least one of:
• (a) a front seat variable structure in which
• in the state of allowing the first passenger to be seated thereon,
• a rear end of the front seat is disposed rearward of the front end of the floor deck,
• the first front space is divided in the up-down direction of the vehicle by the bottom surface of the front seat, the first front space including a space in which no structure is provided between the bottom surface of the front seat in the state of allowing the first passenger to be seated thereon and the front seat facing surface, and
• the front seat is arranged so that an area of the bottom surface of the front seat dividing the first front space when viewed in the up-down direction of the vehicle is changeable;
• (b) a rear seat variable structure in which
• in the state of allowing the second passenger to be seated thereon,
• a front end of the rear seat is disposed forward of the rear end of the floor deck,
• the first rear space is divided in the vehicle up-down direction by the bottom surface of the rear seat, the first rear space including a space in which no structure is provided between the bottom surface of the rear seat in the state of allowing the second passenger to be seated thereon and the rear seat facing surface, and
• the rear seat is arranged so that an area of the bottom surface of the rear seat dividing the first rear space when viewed in the up-down direction of the vehicle is changeable;
• (c) a front backrest variable structure in which
• an upper end of the front backrest in a state of keeping posture of a passenger is provided above the upper surface of the front luggage deck,
• the second front space is divided in the front-rear direction of the vehicle by a front surface of the front backrest, the second front space including a space which is forward of a front surface of the front backrest in the state of keeping posture of a passenger, is above the front luggage deck, and has no structure, and
• the front backrest is arranged so that an area of the front surface of the front backrest dividing the second front space when viewed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is changeable;
• (d) a rear backrest variable structure in which
• an upper end of the rear backrest in the state of keeping posture of a passenger is provided above the upper surface of the rear luggage deck,
• the second rear space is divided in the front-rear direction of the vehicle by a rear surface of the rear backrest, the second rear space including a space which is rearward of a rear surface of the rear backrest in the state of keeping posture of a passenger, is above the rear luggage deck, and has no structure, and
• the rear backrest is arranged so that an area of the rear surface of the rear backrest dividing the second rear space when viewed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is changeable;
• (e) a front luggage deck elongation structure in which at least one of the front seat, the front backrest, the rear seat, and the rear backrest is movable to cause the front luggage deck to elongate rearward;
• (f) a rear luggage deck elongation structure in which at least one of the front seat, the front backrest, the rear seat, and the rear backrest is movable to cause the rear luggage deck to elongate forward;
• (g) a front seat elongation structure in which at least one of the front backrest, the rear seat, and the rear backrest is movable to cause the front seat to elongate rearward;
• and
• (h) a rear seat elongation structure in which at least one of the front seat, the front backrest, and the rear backrest is movable to cause the rear seat to elongate forward;
• and
• the front seat assembly and the rear seat assembly are so configured that each of the front seat and the rear seat is movable into a stored state, by which the entire first front space and the entire first rear space are cleared to allow unobstructed access to the upper surface of the floor deck that has no level difference.