Patent ID: 8618771

Claim:
An electric powered vehicle, mounting a rechargeable first power storage unit and allowing charging of said first power storage unit by an external power supply, comprising: a connector receiving portion coupled at the time of charging to a connector unit outside of the vehicle, for receiving electric power from said external power supply; a power converting unit for converting the electric power from said external power supply, supplied by the coupling of said connector unit and said connector receiving portion and for charging said first power storage unit; a rechargeable second power storage unit having lower output voltage than said first power storage unit; a control unit operating with electric power from said second power storage unit and for controlling power converting operation of said power converting unit; and a low voltage charging unit for charging said second power storage unit, wherein the coupling of said connector unit and said connector receiving portion directly connects the external power source to the low voltage charging unit, which is directly connected to the second power storage unit and control unit, and wherein the low voltage charging unit for charging the second power storage unit is independent of state of operation of the control unit, when the connector unit is coupled to the connector receiving portion.