Electrical power supply system for a vehicle

1 . An electric power supply system intended to be installed in an electric or hybrid vehicle, the vehicle comprising an electric power supply bus able to supply power to electrical equipment installed in the vehicle, said system comprising:

a) a DC-DC voltage converter,

b) at least two power supply cells, each comprising:

i) a rectifier able to provide an AC voltage from a DC voltage and vice versa,

ii) a battery, which is electrically connected to the rectifier, able to operate in a discharge mode in which the battery is able to provide a first DC voltage and able to operate in a charge mode in which the battery is able to recharge from a DC voltage,

iii) a switching cell comprising switches able to connect the battery to the converter,

c) a first set of switches able to connect the battery of a power supply cell to the battery of the neighboring power supply cell in order to connect the set of batteries in series,

d) a second set of switches able to connect the set of batteries connected in series to the electric power supply bus,

e) a control unit configured to control the first set of switches, the second set of switches and each switch of each switching cell,

f) a distribution module intended to be connected to a recharging module external to the vehicle, said recharging module being configured to provide a supply voltage, the distribution module being configured to electrically connect at least one battery to the external recharging module in order to recharge the at least one battery from the voltage provided by the recharging module,

g) a connection module configured to connect a single-phase voltage or a three-phase voltage to each power supply cell, the power supply system is configured to operate in an operating mode in which:

the batteries are connected in series by the first set of switches,

the distribution module connects one or more batteries to the external recharging module.

2 . The power supply system as claimed in claim 1 , in which the distribution module is configured to:

a) in a first operating mode: connect the set of batteries connected in series to the external recharging module,

b) in a second operating mode: connect half of the set of batteries to the external recharging module.

3 . The power supply system as claimed in claim 2 , in which the distribution module comprises:

a first switch able to connect a first terminal of the external recharging module to the first battery of the set of batteries connected in series or to a battery located between the first battery and the last battery of the set of batteries connected in series,

a second switch able to connect a second terminal of the external recharging module to a battery located between the first battery and the last battery of the set of batteries connected in series or to the last battery.

4 . The power supply system as claimed in claim 1 , in which each power supply cell comprises a coil, connected to the rectifier, on the one hand, and intended to be connected to an AC voltage, on the other hand.

5 . The power supply system as claimed in claim 1 , comprising three power supply cells.

6 . A motor vehicle comprising an electric power supply bus able to supply power to electrical equipment installed in the vehicle, and an electric power supply system as claimed in claim 1 .

7 . A method for controlling a system as claimed in claim 1 , said method being implemented by the control unit and comprising:

a) connecting the set of batteries in series, and

b) connecting the set of batteries, or some of the batteries, connected in series to the external recharging module.