Power control device for vehicle

A method of controlling a power supply for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• regenerating power from kinetic energy of the vehicle;
• accumulating the regenerated power in a high-voltage battery having a higher nominal voltage than a low-voltage battery;
• lowering, by a voltage converter, an output voltage from the high-voltage battery and charging the low-voltage battery at the lowered voltage;
• controlling the voltage converter to start the charging of the low-voltage battery after the vehicle is powered ON and before an engine mounted on the vehicle is started;
• and
• switching a relay device to a disconnected state disconnecting the high-voltage battery from the voltage converter, or maintaining the relay device in the disconnected state disconnecting the high-voltage battery from the voltage converter, when an open state of a hood is detected by a hood sensor after the vehicle is powered ON.

A power control device for a power supply mounted on a vehicle, the power control device comprising:

• a generator mounted on the vehicle and configured to regenerate power from kinetic energy of the vehicle;
• a high-voltage battery configured to accumulate the power regenerated by the generator;
• a low-voltage battery of which a nominal voltage is lower than the high-voltage battery;
• a voltage converter configured to lower an output voltage from the high-voltage battery and charge the low-voltage battery at the lowered voltage;
• and
• a controller configured to control the voltage converter, the controller operating the voltage converter to start the charging of the low-voltage battery after the vehicle is powered ON and before an engine mounted on the vehicle is started,
• wherein the controller controls the voltage converter so that a target terminal voltage of the low-voltage battery is raised to increase an output current from the voltage converter to become a first value below a given maximum current after the engine is started, and lowers the output current to be a second value below the first value after the vehicle is powered ON and before the engine is started.