System and method for vehicle-to-load charging

Abstract

Various disclosed embodiments include illustrative apparatuses and methods for performing vehicle-to-vehicle and / or vehicle-to-load charging. In illustrative embodiments, an apparatus includes a multi-functional DC power supply unit and an interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a donor battery powered device and a recipient battery powered device. The interface unit is configured to removably receive the multi-functional DC power supply unit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to electric vehicle battery systems. BACKGROUND

[0002] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and can not constitute prior art.

[0003] For vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-load charging, power electronics can be used as an interface between two vehicles or a vehicle and a load, such as a home battery system, a general battery driven device (load), a power grid, etc. The power electronics takes energy from a battery of one vehicle and provides it to a battery of another vehicle or a load. In order to start the energy transfer process, the power electronics needs to be powered to start communication with the donor vehicle or the recipient vehicle or load in order to start the charging process.

[0004] Typically, the power electronics for V2V or vehicle-to-load charging will be powered by its own internal battery. However, the battery for this use has a limited storage life. SUMMARY

[0005] Various disclosed embodiments include illustrative apparatuses and methods for performing vehicle-to-vehicle and / or vehicle-to-load charging.

[0006] In an illustrative embodiment, an apparatus includes a multi-functional DC power supply unit and an interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a donor battery driven device and a recipient battery driven device. The interface unit is configured to removably receive the multi-functional DC power supply unit.

[0007] In another illustrative embodiment, an apparatus includes a DC power supply unit and an interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a donor battery driven device and a recipient battery driven device. The interface unit is configured to removably receive the DC power supply unit.

[0008] In another illustrative embodiment, a method includes plugging a multi-functional DC power supply device into a vehicle-to-load recharging unit, connecting the vehicle-to-load recharging unit to a donor vehicle and a recipient load, converting a voltage from the multi-functional DC power supply device to an operating voltage, and supplying the converted voltage to a controller of the vehicle-to-load recharging unit.

[0009] The above summary is intended to merely present examples of the disclosure and is not intended to limit the disclosure in any way. Additional aspects, embodiments, and features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in reference diagrams of the accompanying drawings. The embodiments disclosed herein and the drawings are intended to be considered illustrative and not limiting.

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a donor vehicle for charging a recipient vehicle via an exemplary charger interface.

[0012] Figure 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary charger interface device.

[0013] Figure 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary auxiliary power source.

[0014] Figure 4 is a perspective view of a donor vehicle door or a recipient vehicle door having components for charging an auxiliary power source of Figure 3 .

[0015] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of components of the exemplary charger interface device shown in Figure 1 .

[0016] Figure 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by the system of Figure 1 .

[0017] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can be utilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein.

[0019] Various disclosed embodiments include exemplary apparatuses and methods for performing vehicle-to-vehicle and / or vehicle-to-load charging. In some such embodiments, exemplary apparatuses and methods can be provided for preheating a vehicle battery in a cold environment.

[0020] Referring now to Figure 1 and given in overview, in various embodiments, an exemplary vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-load recharging system 20 includes a charging device 22 that receives a DC voltage provided by a donor electrically rechargeable vehicle 24 and converts the received DC voltage to a charging voltage that is sent to a recipient electrically rechargeable vehicle or other load 26.

[0021] For the sake of brevity and simplicity of other applications, reference herein to vehicle-to-vehicle ("V2V") applications will be understood to include vehicle-to-load applications in addition to V2V applications. It will also be understood that loads referenced herein as "vehicles" also include other non-vehicle loads. For example, such loads can include houses, individual loads, power grids (including selling power back to the grid), etc. It will be understood that no limitation is intended, nor inferred, to such examples. Thus, no limitation is intended, nor inferred, to vehicles or any individual loads.

[0022] Further reference is made to Figure 2 V2V charging device 22 includes a housing 42, a donor vehicle connector 44, a recipient vehicle connector 46, and an auxiliary power device port 48. Housing 42 includes electronics for converting a DC voltage received from donor vehicle 24 via donor vehicle connector 44 to an output charging voltage for recipient vehicle 26 via recipient vehicle connector 46. Auxiliary power device port 48 includes electrical leads for connecting an auxiliary power device to the electronics within housing 42.

[0023] Further reference is made to Figure 3 and Figure 4 Exemplary auxiliary power device 50 (multi-purpose DC power unit / device) is sized to be received by auxiliary power device port 48 of V2V charging device 22. Prior to use within V2V charging device 22, auxiliary power device 50 is stored in a recharging port 54 in a door 52 of donor vehicle 24 or recipient vehicle 26. Recharging port 54 includes leads that will connect to leads of auxiliary power device 50. Recharging port 54 is connected to a recharging circuit (not shown) within vehicle 24 or vehicle 26. It will be understood that recharging port 54 can be located anywhere on either of vehicle 24 and / or vehicle 26.

[0024] In various embodiments, auxiliary power device 50 can include a flashlight. However, it will be understood that auxiliary power device 50 can be any rechargeable device as needed for a particular application, such as but not limited to a rechargeable battery pack, a radio component, an emergency beacon device, etc. In other words, auxiliary power device 50 can be a multi-functional DC power unit or a single- functional DC power unit, such as a rechargeable battery. Auxiliary power device 50 includes a rechargeable battery, a load such as a light emitting device (LED, light bulb), circuitry for connecting the rechargeable battery to the load, and circuitry for connecting the rechargeable battery to electrical leads within recharging port 54 and auxiliary power device port 48.

[0025] Further reference is made to Figure 5V2V charging device 22 includes respective donor vehicle cable connector port 70 and recipient vehicle cable connector port 72, auxiliary power device connector 60, bootstrap power circuit 64, pre-charge circuit 66, main controller 62, donor vehicle communication device 80, recipient vehicle communication device 82, isolation monitoring devices 74 and 76, and DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58. Once auxiliary power device 50 is attached to auxiliary power device connector 60 and the donor vehicle and recipient vehicle are connected to V2V charging device 22 via ports 70 and 72, the voltage supplied by auxiliary power device 50 charges the initial start-up components of V2V charging device 22 (e.g., main controller 62, isolation monitoring devices 74 and 76, donor vehicle communication device 80, recipient vehicle communication device 82) via bootstrap power circuit 64. For example, auxiliary power device 50 provides a DC voltage of approximately 4V (in some embodiments, 3.65V) to bootstrap power circuit 64 and pre-charge circuit 66. A diode (not shown) can be included between auxiliary power device connector 60 and bootstrap power circuit 64 and pre-charge circuit 66 such that current only flows into V2V charging device 22. Bootstrap power circuit 64 generates a 12V operating voltage from the voltage of auxiliary power device 50. Pre-charge circuit 66 generates a pre-charge voltage of approximately 400V from the voltage of auxiliary power device 50.

[0026] Bootstrap power circuit 64 converts the voltage output by auxiliary power device 50 to a voltage value acceptable to the initial start-up components of V2V charging device 22. After the initial start-up components have been sufficiently powered, main controller 62 instructs pre-charge circuit 66 to convert the voltage from auxiliary power device 50 to a value used to prepare DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58. Donor vehicle 24 can provide instructions to main controller 62 via communication devices 80 and 82 to activate pre-charge circuit 66. Donor vehicle 24 then determines whether DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58 has a voltage at an acceptable level for performing active V2V charging. Donor vehicle 24 sends this determination to main controller 62 via communication devices 80 and 82, whereby the vehicle contactors close. After donor vehicle 24 closes its contactors, V2V charging device closes its output contactors to recipient vehicle 26 and uses them to power the electronics to step down or step up the supply voltage to the pre-charge voltage requested by recipient vehicle 26. Recipient vehicle 26 then determines whether DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58 has a voltage at an acceptable level for performing active V2V charging. Recipient vehicle 26 sends this determination to main controller 62 via communication devices 80 and 82, whereby main controller 62 stops pre-charging and begins direct DC-to-DC charging.

[0027] See also Figure 6, the V2V charging device 22 can suitably use the illustrative process 100. At block 102, the auxiliary power device 50 is plugged into the V2V charging device 22. At block 104, the V2V charging device 22 is connected to the donor vehicle 24 and the recipient vehicle 26. At block 106, the voltage from the auxiliary power device 50 is converted to an operating voltage, which is then supplied to the various components of the V2V charging device 22. At block 108, after the components of the V2V charging device 22 have adequately received the operating voltage, the main controller 62 instructs the circuit components to begin pre-charging.

[0028] The system first pre-charges the donor DC bus, then the donor EV closes its contactor, then the system pre-charges the recipient vehicle DC bus until the voltages match, once the voltages match, the recipient vehicle closes its contactor and begins charging.

[0029] The pre-charging causes the current voltage supplied by the auxiliary power device 50 to be converted to a value for charging the DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58. Additionally, the operating voltage that is sent from the auxiliary power device 50 is stopped, and generated by the DC-to-DC power electronics circuit 58. At decision block 114, the main controller 62 determines whether the pre-charging is complete based on communications received from the donor vehicle 24 or the recipient vehicle 26, respectively. If it has been determined that the pre-charging is complete, at block 116, the pre-charging is cancelled, and the V2V charging device 22 is switched to actively charge the recipient vehicle 26 with the DC voltage supplied by the donor vehicle 24.

[0030] In some embodiments, and given in outline, the auxiliary power device 50 can include a DC outlet of the donor vehicle 24, which can be connected to the charging device 22 via a cable. In some other embodiments, the auxiliary power device 50 can include a DC crank generator, which can be connected to the charging device 22 via a cable. In some other embodiments, the auxiliary power device 50 can include a solar cell, which can be connected to the charging device 22 via a cable.

[0031] From the above discussion and related drawings, it will be appreciated that various embodiments have been disclosed and shown. To this end, and without any implied limitation thereto (no inference should be drawn therefrom), the following paragraphs merely illustrate a non-limiting summary of the various embodiments disclosed herein, by way of example only and not limitation:

[0032] A. An apparatus comprising: a multi-functional DC power unit; and an interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a donor battery driven device and a recipient battery driven device, the interface unit configured to removably receive the multi-functional DC power unit.

[0033] B. The apparatus of A, wherein the multi-function DC power unit is configured to be rechargeable.

[0034] C. The apparatus of B, wherein the multi-function DC power unit is further configured to be received within and receive a charge from a recharging component included in a device selected from the group consisting of a donor battery-powered device and a recipient battery-powered device.

[0035] D. The apparatus of C, wherein the multi-function DC power unit is further configured to be hand-held.

[0036] E. The apparatus of D, wherein the multi-function DC power unit includes a lighting device and a rechargeable battery.

[0037] F. The apparatus of F, wherein the interface unit includes: an auxiliary power port configured to receive the multi-function DC power unit; a first connector configured to electrically connect to the donor battery-powered device; a second connector configured to electrically connect to the recipient battery-powered device; and a DC-to-DC circuit component configured to connect to the first and second connectors and the multi-function DC power unit.

[0038] G. The apparatus of F, wherein the DC-to-DC circuit component includes: a controller; a donor communication device configured to communicate with the donor battery-powered device via the first connector; and a recipient communication device configured to communicate with the recipient battery-powered device via the second connector.

[0039] H. The apparatus of G, wherein the interface unit includes: a first component configured to convert a voltage supplied by the multi-function DC power unit to an operating voltage for the controller, the donor communication device, and the recipient communication device; and a second component configured to convert the voltage supplied by the multi-function DC power unit to a pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit component.

[0040] I. The apparatus of H, wherein the controller is configured to: receive a pre-charge signal from a device selected from the group consisting of the donor battery-powered device and the recipient battery-powered device via the communication device; and in response to receiving the pre-charge signal: command the second component to convert the voltage supplied by the multi-function DC power unit to the pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit component; and command the first component to cease converting the voltage supplied by the multi-function DC power unit to the operating voltage.

[0041] J. An apparatus comprising: an interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a supply-side battery drive device and a receiver-side battery drive device, the interface unit being configured to removably receive a DC power supply unit.

[0042] K. The device according to J, wherein the DC power supply unit is configured to be rechargeable.

[0043] L. The apparatus according to K, wherein the DC power unit is further configured to be received within and from a recharging component included in a device selected from a supplier battery-powered vehicle and a receiver battery-powered vehicle.

[0044] M. The apparatus according to L, wherein the supplier battery drive device and the receiver battery drive device are vehicles.

[0045] N. The device according to M, wherein the DC power unit includes a lighting device and a rechargeable battery.

[0046] O. The apparatus according to M, wherein the interface unit includes: an auxiliary power port configured to receive a DC power unit; a first connector configured to be electrically connected to a supplier battery-powered vehicle; a second connector configured to be electrically connected to a receiver battery-powered vehicle; and a DC-to-DC circuit component configured to be connected to the first and second connectors and the DC power unit.

[0047] P. The apparatus according to O, wherein the DC-DC circuit components include: a controller; a supplier communication device configured to communicate with a supplier battery-powered vehicle via a first connector; and a receiver communication device configured to communicate with a receiver battery-powered vehicle via a second connector.

[0048] Q. The apparatus according to P, wherein: the interface unit includes: a first component configured to convert a voltage supplied by a DC power supply unit into an operating voltage for a controller, a supplier communication device, and a receiver communication device; and a second component configured to convert the voltage supplied by the DC power supply unit into a pre-charge value for DC-DC circuit components; and the controller is configured to: receive a pre-charge signal from a vehicle selected from a supplier battery-powered vehicle and a receiver battery-powered vehicle via the communication device; and in response to receiving the pre-charge signal: command the second component to convert the voltage supplied by the DC power supply unit into a pre-charge value for DC-DC circuit components; and command the first component to stop converting the voltage supplied by the DC power supply unit into an operating voltage.

[0049] R. A method comprising: plugging a DC power device into a vehicle-to-load recharge unit; connecting the vehicle-to-load recharge unit to a donor vehicle and a recipient load device; converting a voltage from the multi-functional DC power device to an operating voltage; and supplying the operating voltage to a controller of the vehicle-to-load recharge unit.

[0050] S. The method of R, further comprising, in response to receiving a predefined event: converting the voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power device to a pre-charge value; pre-charging DC-to-DC electronics using the pre-charge voltage; and stopping the supply of the operating voltage to the controller.

[0051] T. The method of S, further comprising: receiving an instruction from a device selected from the donor vehicle and the recipient load device, the instruction comprising an instruction to interrupt pre-charging and begin active charging.

[0052] Those skilled in the art will realize that at least portions of the devices and / or processes described herein can be integrated into a data processing system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a data processing system generally includes one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, memory such as volatile or non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices (e.g., a touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna, etc.), and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity; control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A data processing system can be implemented utilizing suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0053] For example, a central processing unit of a personal computer can operate at various times as a module for displaying graphics on a screen, a module for writing data to a storage medium, a module for receiving user input, and a module for multiplying two large prime numbers by configuring its logic gates according to its instructions. Such reconfigurations can be invisible to the naked eye, and in some embodiments can include activation, deactivation, and / or re-routing of various portions of the components (e.g., switches, logic gates, inputs, and / or outputs). Thus, in examples present in the foregoing / preceding disclosure, if an example includes or recites multiple modules, the example includes the possibility that the same hardware can implement more than one of the recited modules, either simultaneously or at discrete times or timings. Whether using more components, fewer components, or the same number of components as the number of modules, implementation of multiple modules is merely a choice of implementation, and generally does not affect the operation of the modules themselves. Thus, it should be understood that any recitation of multiple discrete modules in the present disclosure includes implementation of those modules as any number of underlying components, including but not limited to a single component that reconfigures itself over time to perform the functions of multiple modules and / or multiple components that similarly reconfigure, and / or dedicated reconfigurable components.

[0054] In some cases, one or more components can be referred to herein as being“configured to,”“configured by,”“configurable to,”“operable / operative to,”“adapted / adaptable to,”“capable of,”“adapted / adaptable to,”“adapted / adaptable to,” and / or the like. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such terms generally encompass active- and / or passive- state components and / or components in an inactive state.

[0055] While particular aspects of the subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications can be made in the aspect of the subject matter described herein, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the subject matter as described herein, and it is therefore intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the subject matter as described herein. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, in general, the terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (such as the terms "comprise," "include," and the like) are intended to be interpreted as "open-ended" terms (e.g., the terms "comprise," "include," and the like are to be construed as if the terms "comprising" or "including" and other like terms were actually recited therein). Those of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such intent will be recited explicitly in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation, no such intent is present. For example, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, the following appended claims contain, in some instances, natural prose-language verb phrases having an actor (e.g., "a system comprising" or "a system including"). Such phrases are intended to be interpreted as specifying the actor as performing the recited action (e.g., "a system comprising" is intended to mean "a system comprising" and not "a system to which something is added"), unless otherwise indicated by context. Recitation of amounts, measures, materials, components, or the like by, for example, "at least one," when applied to any aspect of this disclosure, is intended to mean one or more than one, unless otherwise indicated by context. For example, "at least one of A and B" is intended to mean A or B or A and B. As used herein, "another" means at least one, unless context indicates otherwise.

[0056] The detailed description set forth above describes various embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein. The subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware and / or etc. The detailed description set forth above generally describes only some of the embodiments of the aspects of the subject matter described in this document. The descriptions and representations are intended to be examples only and are not intended to be limiting in any way. The subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware and / or software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) and / or combinations thereof to perform the various aspects. The above-described apparatus and / or processes can be implemented as part of the method claimed below. The method claimed below can be implemented as software, hardware, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one implementation, the subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented as a system on a chip (SoC). In another implementation, the subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented as a back-end component of a server system, a content delivery component of a server system, a component of a distributed system, and / or virtually any other component of a system. In one embodiment, the subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented as a program, software, or firmware tangibly embodied in a program carrier. The program, software, or firmware can be written in any of various styles as is applicable to the specific application and / or functions of the subject matter disclosed herein. Any of various available programming constitutions can be used to implement the routines of the subject matter disclosed herein, including machine, microcode, hardware description languages, and others.

[0057] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operations described in the preceding embodiments can be implemented in any sequence as appropriate without departing from the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. Additionally, although various operations were presented in a sequence, it should be understood that various other scheduling asides to the sequence presented can be employed, for example, in overlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory, supplemental, concurrent, reversed, or other variant scheduling. Additionally, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "in response to," "in relation to," or other past-tense adjectives are generally not intended to exclude such variant scheduling.

[0058] While the disclosed subject matter has been described in terms of illustrative embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claimed subject matter as set forth in the requirements of the patent claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising: Multifunctional DC power supply unit; and An interface unit configured to perform battery recharging between a supplier battery drive device and a receiver battery drive device, the interface unit being configured to removably receive the DC power supply unit. The interface unit includes: An auxiliary power port, configured to receive the multi-functional DC power unit; A first connector, configured to be electrically connected to the supplier's battery drive device; A second connector, configured to be electrically connected to the receiving battery-driven device; and DC-to-DC circuitry component, the DC-to-DC circuitry component being configured to connect to the first connector and the second connector, and the multifunction... DC power supply unit The DC-to-DC circuit component includes: Controller; Supplier communication equipment, configured to communicate with the supplier battery-driven device via the first connector; and A receiving communication device configured to communicate with the receiving battery-powered device via the second connector. The interface unit includes: A first component, configured to convert the voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power unit into an operating voltage for the controller, the supplier communication device, and the receiver communication device; and A second component is configured to convert the voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power supply unit into a pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit components.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multi-functional DC power unit is configured to be rechargeable.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the multi-functional DC power unit is further configured to be received within and from the recharging component of a device selected from the supplier battery drive device and the receiver battery drive device.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the multi-functional DC power unit is further configured to be handheld.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the multi-functional DC power unit includes a lighting device and a rechargeable battery.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: A precharge signal is received via the communication device from a device selected from the supplier battery drive device and the receiver battery drive device. as well as In response to receiving the precharge signal: The second component is instructed to convert the voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power supply unit into the pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit components; as well as The first component is commanded to stop converting the voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power supply unit into the operating voltage.

7. An apparatus comprising: A charging interface unit configured to perform battery charging between a supplier battery drive device and a receiver battery drive device, the charging interface unit being configured to removably receive a DC power supply unit to supply power to the charging interface unit. The interface unit includes: An auxiliary power port, configured to receive the DC power unit; A first connector, configured to be electrically connected to the supplier's battery-powered vehicle; A second connector, configured to be electrically connected to the receiver's battery-powered vehicle; and A DC-to-DC circuit component, configured to connect to the first connector and the second connector, and the DC power supply unit. The DC-to-DC circuit component includes: Controller; Supplier communication equipment, configured to communicate with the supplier battery-powered vehicle via the first connector; and A receiving communication device configured to communicate with the receiving battery-powered vehicle via the second connector. The interface unit includes: A first component, configured to convert the voltage supplied by the DC power unit into an operating voltage for the controller, the supplier communication device, and the receiver communication device; and A second component is configured to convert the voltage supplied by the DC power supply unit into a pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit components.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DC power supply unit is configured to be rechargeable.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the DC power unit is further configured to be received within and from the recharging component of a device selected from the supplier battery drive device and the receiver battery drive device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the supplier battery drive device and the receiver battery drive device are vehicles.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the DC power unit comprises a lighting device and a rechargeable battery.

12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: The controller is configured to: A pre-charge signal is received from a vehicle selected from the supplier's battery-powered vehicle and the receiver's battery-powered vehicle via the communication device; as well as In response to receiving the precharge signal: The second component is instructed to convert the voltage supplied by the DC power unit into the pre-charge value for the DC-to-DC circuit component; as well as The first component is commanded to stop converting the voltage supplied by the DC power unit into the operating voltage.

13. A method, the method comprising: Insert the multi-functional DC power supply into the vehicle's load recharging unit; Connect the vehicle-to-load recharging unit to the supplier vehicle and the receiver load equipment; The voltage from the multi-functional DC power supply device is converted into an operating voltage; the operating voltage is supplied to the controller of the vehicle-to-load recharging unit, and In response to receiving a predefined event: The voltage supplied by the multi-functional DC power supply device is converted into a pre-charge value; The DC-to-DC electronic device is precharged using the aforementioned precharge voltage; And stop supplying the operating voltage to the controller.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: The device receives instructions from the supplier vehicle and the receiver load device, the instructions including instructions to interrupt precharging and begin active charging.

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