Electrical vehicle battery recharging vehicle-side receptacle unit

A hands-free method, carried out by a vehicle-side receptacle unit on an underside of an electrical vehicle (EV) positioned on a ground surface, for achieving an electrical connector mating between a vehicle-side electrical connector and a floor unit electrical connector of a floor-positioned recharging unit, wherein the vehicle-side receptacle unit comprises:

• a unit frame defining a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction, the unit frame including a ground-facing surface;
• a motor driven sliding cover supported by, and slidably disposed on, the unit frame plane-parallel with, and spaced vertically from, the ground-facing surface, the sliding cover including a transverse leading edge facing one longitudinal end of the unit frame;
• and
• a gap defined between two unit frame surfaces extending vertically away from the two respective portions of the ground-facing surface proximal the one longitudinal end, the gap containing an interface of the vehicle-side electrical connector, and
• wherein the method comprises:
• receiving a shuttle carrying the floor unit electrical connector on the ground-facing surface;
• and
• linearly actuating the sliding cover in the longitudinal direction toward the one longitudinal end to guide, using the leading edge, the shuttle carrying the floor unit electrical connector toward the gap to facilitate a mating of corresponding electrical contacts of the vehicle-side electrical connector and the floor unit electrical connector.