Let’s get to know the EV world better word-by-word: Common terms & jargons

EV

Electric Vehicle. One that is not powered by petrol or diesel. There are several sub-groups within EVs as discussed below

BEV

Battery Electric Vehicle. A fully electric car with all the power coming from onboard batteries

FCEV

Fuel-cell Electric Vehicle. Here electric power to drive the car is derived from hydrogen fuel that via a process is converted into electricity

HEV

Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Powdered by both an internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric motor. Do not have a charging port, are self-charging

MHEV

Mild-hybrid Electric Vehicle. ICE powers the car with a small electric motor only offering an additional power boost

PHEV

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Like HEVs they feature both an ICE and an e-motor. However, they have bigger batteries that are plugged in to charge

REx

Range-extender Electric Vehicle. It is basically a BEV with an ICE whose only job is to charge batteries via a generator

AC

Alternating Current. It’s the current that is provided by our regular electric socket at home. Can’t be used to charge an EV, unless converted into DC

DC

Direct Current. Unlike AC, it can charge an electric car

kW

KiloWatt. Measurement of power in an EV

kWh

Kilowatt hours. Unit of electricity transferred in an hour by one kW of energy. Denotes EV’s battery capacity, so higher the figure, more electricity storage, & ultimately more range

On-board Charger

Used during AC charging. Converts AC to DC directly on the car itself. Slow charging

DC Fast Charger

Uses an external high-power charger to deliver high-power DC directly to EV’s battery. A faster way to charge an EV

Single-phase AC Charger

A simple AC charging used at home, power comes from one single conductor. Offers slow charging speed

Three-phase AC Charger

Advanced AC charger, power comes from three conductors. Has complicated wiring, not supported by every household

Type 1 plug

A five-pin electric charging plug for AC charging

Type 2 plug 

A seven-pin electric charging plug for AC charging

CCS

Combined Charging System, adds two extra prongs on either Type 1 or Type 2 plugs to support DC charging. Most used in Malaysia

ChaDeMo

A DC charging plug found in a few Japanese cars

LIB

Lithium-ion battery. It is the current standard in EVs, offers fast-changing and good power

Tesla Supercharger

It is a supercharger. It charges the Model S to recharge 80% in 30 minutes

ZEV

Zero Emission Vehicles. Such vehicles emit no tailpipe pollutants

Range

An EV’s range tells us how far the car can travel solely on electric power

Charging station

A part of the EV infrastructure that supplies power to EV