Welcome to the new world of electric vehicles (EVs). If it wasn’t confusing enough, there is now a whole lot of additional EV jargon to learn. Don’t worry, you’ll no longer be left scratching your head proclaiming, “What the !!!! does that stand for?” because we’re going to explain it to you.
EV = Electric Vehicle. A vehicle powered by electricity.
BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle. This is the same as an EV in effect although not all EVs are necessarily BEVs as you could, in theory, run one off a cable.
ICE = Internal Combustion Engine vehicle. A vehicle with a petrol or diesel motor.
PHEV = Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. A car with both an ICE engine and a smallish battery which allows the car to be driven purely in electric mode, usually for around 50km or so.
You can charge vehicles quickly vs slowly. Fast chargers are typically direct current (DC) and slow chargers are AC (alternating current). A DC charger might add 200-300 kilometres of range per hour while an AC only manages 8-12 kilometres of range per hour depending on battery size.
Plugshare.com is the best app/website to find EV chargers.
Regen = Regenerative Braking. When an EV slows down or goes downhill, the motors turn into a generator and charge the battery. An EV will finish a downhill with more charge than it had at the top of the hill.
There is more EV jargon out there but that’ll do for starters!
