EV ownership is full of acronyms and new technology that can discourage new or prospective owners from making the jump. Some may be new to you or are discouraging you from taking the first step towards EV ownership. This list will give you a leg up on learning about the cars.
EV Acronyms
A
B
BEV
- Battery Electric Vehicle
BMS
- Battery Management System
- Used to control charge and discharge to the battery to protect it and balance the cells
C
CCS
- Combined Charging System
- Offering a standard J1772 plug with 2 additional DC connection points to enable Level 3 fast DC charging
- Often called the SAE Combo
CHAdeMO
- Level 3 charging port
- Bi-directional for V2G connectivity
Charging Levels
- Level 1 - Generally 120 AC
- Standard home outlet, 5-10 miles per hour of charge (varies by model)
- 1.3-2.4 kW
- Level 2 - Generally 240 AC
- Most home EV charging systems provide this level, and offer about 30 miles of range per hour (varies by model)
- 3-20 kW
- Level 3 - DC, Voltage Varies
- 100-200 miles range per hour charge (varies by model and amp)
- 50-350 kW
- Level 1 - Generally 120 AC
D
E
EV
- Electric Vehicle
EVSE
- Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment
- This is your charging equipment, cables, etc
F
FCEV
- Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
- Generally powered by hydrogen fuel cells to produce electricity for the electric motor(s)
G
GoM
- Guess o Meter
- Estimate of range left based on historic driving patterns and various sensor readings
H
HEV
- Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- A Vehicle that usually has a gasoline engine and an electric motor, but lacks plugin charging and relies mostly on regenerative braking the charge a small battery bank
I
J
J1772
- Standard round plug for Level 1 and Level 2 charging
- Sometimes called the "J-Plug"
K
L
M
MPGe
- Miles per Gallon Equivalent
- Used to measure efficiency in comparison to an ICE vehicle. 1 Gallon of gasoline is 33.7 kW
N
NACS
- Level 3 charging port, Tesla proprietary but they have allowed other makes to leverage the port and network of chargers in recent years.
- Becoming a standard for Fast Charging
O
One Pedal Driving
- Some EVs have a setting to allow the accelerator pedal control both acceleration and deceleration by leveraging regen braking when the throttle is reduced
P
PHEV
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Plug Type
- The style of connector from the charger to your vehicle.
- See: EV Plug Types: A Guide to Types of EV Charging Plugs & Uses
Q
R
Range
- How far you are able to travel on the available energy in the battery and average MPGe
REEV
- Range Extended Electric Vehicle
- These vehicles tend to have a 'generator' engine running on gasoline or diesel fuel which charges the battery bank to run the electric motor(s)
S
SAE Combo
- Offering a standard J1772 plug with 2 additional DC connection points to enable Level 3 fast DC charging
- See also the CCS (combined charging system) entry
SOC
- State of Charge
- The battery's fullness from 0 to 100 (where 0 is empty/dead and 100 is full capacity)
SSB
- Solid State Battery
T
U
V
V2G
- Vehicle to Grid
- Allows your battery to communicate with the power company to control charge rates
V2H
- Vehicle to Home
- Allows your car battery to act as a home battery back up system to power your home in a power outage
Vampire Drain
- The loss of range when sitting/parked, usually a percent or two a day
Y
X
Y
Z
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