Vehicle including movable floor panel

A vehicle comprising:

• a frame defining an interior cabin;
• a driver seat mounted to the frame within the interior cabin;
• a collision sensor configured to collect environment data used to determine or predict an occurrence of a collision;
• a footwell provided forward of the driver seat in a vehicle longitudinal direction, the footwell comprising:
• a lower floor panel fixed to the frame, the lower floor panel defining a portion of the interior cabin;
• a movable floor panel extending from the lower floor panel;
• and
• an actuator operable to move the movable floor panel from an extended position to a retracted position in response to an occurrence of a collision being determined or predicted based upon environment data collected by the collision sensor,
• wherein the movable floor panel moves in a direction opposite the interior cabin as the movable floor panel moves from the extended position to the retracted position.

A method comprising:

• detecting or predicting an occurrence of a collision;
• and
• operating, in response to detecting or predicting the occurrence of the collision, an actuator to move a movable floor panel of a footwell from an extended position to a retracted position, the movable floor panel extending from a lower floor panel of the footwell, the lower floor panel defining a portion of an interior cabin,
• wherein the movable floor panel moves in a direction opposite the interior cabin as the movable floor panel moves from the extended position to the retracted position.