A battery electric counterbalanced forklift reliably prevents rainwater from entering an electrical part compartment in a counterweight and also allows a battery cover attachment task to be performed more readily than conventionally. The forklift includes a body frame forming a battery compartment within a vehicle body, an openable battery cover closing the battery compartment, a counterweight disposed adjacently behind the body frame, a hinge rotatably joining the body frame and the battery cover, and an inner cover disposed so as to extend widthwise beyond a boundary between the body frame and the counterweight. The inner cover and the hinge are fastened together to the body frame at a portion forming the boundary.