A charging apparatus includes a cooling fan; a battery temperature detecting
unit;
and a control unit configured to determine presence or non-presence of cooling
effect by the cooling fan, and to control a charging current based on an output
of the battery temperature detecting unit. When there is no cooling effect and
the battery temperature reaches a first predetermined value smaller than a maximum
value of a temperature range in which a battery is chargeable without making a
life time thereof shorter, the control unit changes the charging current to a first
charging current value where increase of the battery temperature can be suppressed.
When there is cooling effect and the battery temperature reaches a second predetermined
value higher than the first predetermined value, the control unit changes the charging
current to a second charging current value larger than the first charging current value.