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Share Glossary of Electric Vehicle Terms on FacebookShare Glossary of Electric Vehicle Terms on TwitterShare Glossary of Electric Vehicle Terms on LinkedinEmail Glossary of Electric Vehicle Terms link
Electric vehicle (EV):A vehicle that is powered by electricity. This includes battery electric vehicles and plugin hybrid electric vehicles
Battery electric vehicle (BEV): A vehicle that is fully powered by electricity and must be plugged in to charge.
Plugin hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV):A vehicle that is powered by a petrol or diesel engine and an electric motor. It can be plugged in and charged but also has a petrol engine.
Internal combustion engine (ICE):The traditional method of powering a vehicle using fossil fuels (petrol and diesel).
Ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV): Any vehicle that emits less than 75kg of CO2 emissions per kilometre from the tailpipe.
Car club:By being a member of a car club, people can pay to use car when they need one, rather than owning their own vehicle.
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure: The network of charging facilities for electric vehicles, including the charging stations and other associated hardware and software.
Electric vehicle chargepoint:A location where EVs can plug in and charge.
Chargepoint operator (CPO):A company or organisation that operates, manages and maintains chargepoint infrastructure.
On-street charging: Charging infrastructure that is installed on a public street or road.
Off-street charging: Charging infrastructure that is installed at a location that is not a public street or road, such as a car park; or private off-street charging that is installed on a driveway or in a garage.
Close to home charging:Charging infrastructure that is installed in residential areas. This could be on the street a residential property is on, an adjacent street or car park a short walk away. This type of charging is usually for public use and is not connected to somebody’s home.
Home charging:Charging an EV while it is parked at home on a driveway or in a garage (such as overnight).
Kilowatt (kW): In relation to EVs, kW relates to both the output of an EV chargepoint and the output power of an EV’s motor.
Kilowatt hour (kWh): In EV terms kWh is the measurement of the capacity or size of an EV battery. The higher the kWh the more charge the battery can store.
Slow/ standard charger: A charger rated less than 7 kW. It typically takes 12 - 15 hours to charge an EV to full with this type of chargepoint. These type of chargers are useful in locations where an EV is parked for a long time or overnight.
Fast charger:A charger rated from 8 kW - 49 kW. They typically charge a vehicle in 2 - 4 hours. This type of charger is useful in locations where a car might be parked for a few hours, like retail parks or restaurant car parks.
Rapid charger:A charger rated 50 kW - 149 kW. Depending on the vehicle capability they can charge a battery to 80% within 30 minutes - 1 hour. They are ideal for locations where vehicles will only be parked for short periods, such as motorway service stations.
Ultra-rapid charger: A charger rated above 150 kW. They can charge a car to 80% in as little as 20 minutes. They are often used for on-route chargers, for example at service stations. Ultra-rapid chargers cannot be used by many electric vehicles.
Tariff: The price per kWh it costs to charge an electric vehicle. Some chargepoints may have variable tariffs, such as peak and off peak.
Range: How many miles an EV can travel on a single charge.
On-board charger:Each EV has an onboard charger which is built into the vehicle. An onboard charger is different to an EV charger or chargepoint, and is a component of your vehicle. The speed that your EV will charge from AC power depends on the capacity of its onboard charger. The capacity of onboard chargers varies, and you can check what yours is with your vehicle manufacturer. The maximum speed your EV can charge is set by the onboard charger it has.
Load management:Some chargepoints have load management capabilities. This controls how much electricity each charging socket can use when more than one vehicle is plugged into the charger. If a chargepoint has a load management feature you should be advised of this either on the chargepoint itself, nearby signage, or on the chargepoint operator app. You will also be able to find out what charging speed to expect. The way that the chargepoint you are using distributes the power when multiple vehicles are charging can impact your charging speed. For example, if you are charging at a 7 kW/h chargepoint that has two sockets and another vehicle parks and starts charging, the speed at which you charge may drop to 3.5 kW/h. This is not the case at all chargepoints but may happen at some.
PAS 1899:2022:Guidelines on standards for accessible charging of electric vehicles. It contains the best available evidence on making EV charging accessible for disabled people, and can be downloaded here.
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund:Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) is a national £450 million fund to ‘accelerate commercialisation of local, close to home charging’. The fund will support local authorities toinstall chargepoints in residential areas without access to off-street parking and to encourage private investment in chargepoints.
Electric vehicle (EV):A vehicle that is powered by electricity. This includes battery electric vehicles and plugin hybrid electric vehicles
Battery electric vehicle (BEV): A vehicle that is fully powered by electricity and must be plugged in to charge.
Plugin hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV):A vehicle that is powered by a petrol or diesel engine and an electric motor. It can be plugged in and charged but also has a petrol engine.
Internal combustion engine (ICE):The traditional method of powering a vehicle using fossil fuels (petrol and diesel).
Ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV): Any vehicle that emits less than 75kg of CO2 emissions per kilometre from the tailpipe.
Car club:By being a member of a car club, people can pay to use car when they need one, rather than owning their own vehicle.
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure: The network of charging facilities for electric vehicles, including the charging stations and other associated hardware and software.
Electric vehicle chargepoint:A location where EVs can plug in and charge.
Chargepoint operator (CPO):A company or organisation that operates, manages and maintains chargepoint infrastructure.
On-street charging: Charging infrastructure that is installed on a public street or road.
Off-street charging: Charging infrastructure that is installed at a location that is not a public street or road, such as a car park; or private off-street charging that is installed on a driveway or in a garage.
Close to home charging:Charging infrastructure that is installed in residential areas. This could be on the street a residential property is on, an adjacent street or car park a short walk away. This type of charging is usually for public use and is not connected to somebody’s home.
Home charging:Charging an EV while it is parked at home on a driveway or in a garage (such as overnight).
Kilowatt (kW): In relation to EVs, kW relates to both the output of an EV chargepoint and the output power of an EV’s motor.
Kilowatt hour (kWh): In EV terms kWh is the measurement of the capacity or size of an EV battery. The higher the kWh the more charge the battery can store.
Slow/ standard charger: A charger rated less than 7 kW. It typically takes 12 - 15 hours to charge an EV to full with this type of chargepoint. These type of chargers are useful in locations where an EV is parked for a long time or overnight.
Fast charger:A charger rated from 8 kW - 49 kW. They typically charge a vehicle in 2 - 4 hours. This type of charger is useful in locations where a car might be parked for a few hours, like retail parks or restaurant car parks.
Rapid charger:A charger rated 50 kW - 149 kW. Depending on the vehicle capability they can charge a battery to 80% within 30 minutes - 1 hour. They are ideal for locations where vehicles will only be parked for short periods, such as motorway service stations.
Ultra-rapid charger: A charger rated above 150 kW. They can charge a car to 80% in as little as 20 minutes. They are often used for on-route chargers, for example at service stations. Ultra-rapid chargers cannot be used by many electric vehicles.
Tariff: The price per kWh it costs to charge an electric vehicle. Some chargepoints may have variable tariffs, such as peak and off peak.
Range: How many miles an EV can travel on a single charge.
On-board charger:Each EV has an onboard charger which is built into the vehicle. An onboard charger is different to an EV charger or chargepoint, and is a component of your vehicle. The speed that your EV will charge from AC power depends on the capacity of its onboard charger. The capacity of onboard chargers varies, and you can check what yours is with your vehicle manufacturer. The maximum speed your EV can charge is set by the onboard charger it has.
Load management:Some chargepoints have load management capabilities. This controls how much electricity each charging socket can use when more than one vehicle is plugged into the charger. If a chargepoint has a load management feature you should be advised of this either on the chargepoint itself, nearby signage, or on the chargepoint operator app. You will also be able to find out what charging speed to expect. The way that the chargepoint you are using distributes the power when multiple vehicles are charging can impact your charging speed. For example, if you are charging at a 7 kW/h chargepoint that has two sockets and another vehicle parks and starts charging, the speed at which you charge may drop to 3.5 kW/h. This is not the case at all chargepoints but may happen at some.
PAS 1899:2022:Guidelines on standards for accessible charging of electric vehicles. It contains the best available evidence on making EV charging accessible for disabled people, and can be downloaded here.
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund:Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) is a national £450 million fund to ‘accelerate commercialisation of local, close to home charging’. The fund will support local authorities toinstall chargepoints in residential areas without access to off-street parking and to encourage private investment in chargepoints.
