Need to know about common acronyms related to electric vehicle charging stations? This quick reference table about common EV terms will help you out.
| wdt_ID | Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | A | Amp or Ampere. A measure of electrical current. Think of it as the flow rate of electricity, like gallons per hour is the flow rate of water. |
| 11 | Ah | Amp-hour. Typically only used at the battery cell level, describing the quantity of current charged or discharged. |
| 12 | AC | Alternating Current. This is the standard used by the world for the transmission of electricity over long distances, and it is the “kind” of electricity in a standard wall outlet. |
| 13 | AER | All-Electric Range. How far an EV can drive on its battery alone. |
| 14 | BEV | Battery Electric Vehicle. A “pure” EV. |
| 15 | BMS | Battery Management System. This includes both the hardware and software on the EV that manages charging and discharging. It effectively runs the entire EV. |
| 16 | DC | Direct Current. This is the “kind” of electricity every battery needs to charge or discharge. When an EV is charged using a standard EVSE, AC is sent to the EV, and the EV’s onboard charger converts it to DC so the battery can be charged. |
| 17 | DCFC | DC Fast Charger. This is the fastest way to charge your EV, and as the name implies, the “kind” of electricity dispensed has already been converted from AC to DC, bypassing the EV’s charging and allowing for a much higher charge rate. |
| 18 | EV | Electric Vehicle. |
| 19 | EVSE | Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. This is the formal name for what is commonly called “the charger.” In reality, the charger is hardware installed on the car, and the EVSE is simply a smart switch that does what the car’s BMS tells it to do. |
| 20 | FCEV | Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. Most (but not all) cars that run on hydrogen operate by converting hydrogen to electricity via a device called a fuel cell. Think of the fuel cell as the battery in a BEV. |
| 22 | GOM | Guess-o-meter. Commonly used to describe to (somewhat) derisively refer to an EV’s range estimate. |
| 23 | ICE | Internal Combustion Engine. This is the formal name for a gasoline car’s engine and is used to refer to gas-powered cars. |
| 24 | ICE’d | A verb used when a gas-powered car is purposefully parked in an EV charging spot to block it. |
| 25 | ICE-hole | Refers to the driver of a gas-powered car who purposefully parks in a charging spot to block it. |
| 26 | kWh | Kilowatt-hour. A thousand watt-hours. This is the standard unit of energy that utilities use to measure electrical consumption and is also traditionally used to measure the size of a battery. |
| 27 | L1 | Level 1. A low-level EVSE conforming to the 120V standard, sometimes referred to as a “granny charger.” In the US and other countries not using a 240V standard, this is frequently the OEM EVSE that comes standard with the car. |
| 28 | L2 | Level 2. An EVSE conforming to the 240V standard. Not all L2 EVSEs are created equal. Typical “sizes” are 16, 32A, 40A, and 50A. EVs are limited in charge rate by current (measured in A), and most modern EVSEs can accept at least 32A when charging on AC. Many higher-end EVs can accept 40A or more. |
| 29 | PHEV | Plug-in Hybrid EV. This is simply any hybrid EV that can be plugged in. |
| 30 | SOC | State Of Charge. Used to describe, typically in percent, how much energy is currently stored in a battery. A battery with 60% SOC would therefore be 60% “full” and would be expected to be able to travel 60% of its typical range. |
| 31 | V | Volt. Voltage is a measure of electromotive force and is the electrical equivalent to water pressure in a pipe. As with electricity in a wire, it is possible to have great pressure (voltage) in a pipe (wire) and not have any water (electricity) flowing. |
| 32 | W | Watt. A fundamental unit of power. This can also be thought of as the rate at which energy is delivered. |
| 33 | Wh | Watt-hour. A fundamental unit of energy. Power and energy are as similar and different as distance and velocity. Energy is a quantity, and power is a rate of energy. |
| 34 | J-1772 | Refers to the type of plug on an EVSE. The name is derived from the SAE standard that defines it. |
| 35 | J-plug | Shorthand sometimes used instead of J-1772. |
| 36 | CCS | Combined Charging System. This standard for charging EVs adds two fast-charging pins to the charging inlet. The CCS can be "Type 1" (used in North America) and combine with a J-1772 plug, or it can be "Type 2" (used in Europe) and combine with a Mennekes plug. |
| 37 | NEMA | National Electrical Manufacturers Association. This organization sets electrical standards in the US. A type of plug used by many L2 EVSES is called a NEMA 14-50, which describes the plug format and current rating. |
| 38 | SAE | Society of Automotive Engineers. They have many standards that EVs sold in the North American market conform to, including the J-1772 plug, which all localized EVs (except Tesla) use. |
| 39 | NEC | National Electrical Code. The NEC is a regionally adoptable standard for the safe installation of electrical wiring and equipment in the United States. It is updated every three years. |
| 40 | ICE-mobile | A (typically gasoline-powered) car that uses an Internal Combustion Engine. |
| 41 | CHAdeMO | CHAdeMO is a DCFC standard. It was once the only DCFC option, but as of 2023, it is almost exclusively used in Japan. In the North American market, the Nissan Leaf is the only EV that uses CHAdeMO– and we expect the next generation of that model to discontinue its use. |
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