- AC (Alternating current)- Type of electric, this is same electric that your house uses comes straight out the grid. The max speed AC at public chargers is 43kW. Only the zoe can handle AC more than 22kW however any car can plug into more powerful chargers. Please note its polite to use the most powerful plug you can at a rapid and move on after 45 minutes.
- BCI – Battery Charging Impossible message that can appear on dash in orange box, meaning Zoe has an issue, but not dangerous. Can sometimes be linked to a low 12v battery state or poor charger install
- BEV -battery Electric vehicle
- BMS- Battery management system
- Canze – App based software, that uses a bluetooth dongle that connects to the OBD2 port that sits below the mat thats sit below the maps sd-card (for a Renault Zoe)
- Chademo- A DC charger plug type
- CCS – Combined Charging System is a DC charging type in the EU this is a type 2 plug with 2 extra pins at the bottom in the USA its a type1 plug with 2 extra’s pins
- DC (Direct current) – Type of electric this is on rapids chargers with powers over 49kW typically
- Dongle- A device that can be used to talk to your cards OBD
- EV- Electric vehicle
- FCEV Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle – See HEV
- Granny charger – This is a term that refers to the Zoe’s and all other EV’S 3pin socket charger that utilises the 13amp home electric system either at home or away, useful if no home charger is fitter or for visiting people that have no chargers fitted
- HEV Hydrogen Electric Vehicle is a car that uses a fuel cell this works by using hydrogen this is then used to make electric which powers an electric motor.
- Hybrid- A car that require petrol or diesel to be put inside it some companies try make the public believe these are self charging however they are no more self charging than a full EV or PHEV
- ICE- internal combustion engine
- Ice’d- a ICE car parked in an EV charge spot
- kW – stands for kilowatt. A kilowatt is simply 1,000 watts, which is a measure of power. So, for example, the 80,000 watt motor could also be called a 80 kilowatt motor. This is used for saying how fast a charger is or how fast a motor is.
- kWh- A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of energy. For example a 22kWh battery
- LeafSpy- App based software, that uses a bluetooth dongle that connects to the OBD2 port (For Nissan Leaf)
- MEV- Mild Electric Hybrid Vehicle meaning no plug TINY battery
- OBD – on broad diagnostics
- PHEV- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- Regen- This is a form of braking however it doesn’t use any brake discs or brake pads instead a crude way of explaining it is that it uses the resistance in the electric motor to make power that goes back into the battery as energy rather than being lost as heat like typical braking.
- REX- Range Extender This is an engine which is used as a generator to recharge a battery which then powers a motor to power the wheels.
- SelfchargingHybrid- Toyota’s rubbish advert
- SelfChargingElectric- An EV
- Tesla Destination chargers- A Type2 AC plug can be used by any type2 car these are small grey box’s like home chargers
- Tesla Supercharger- A VERY powerful charger for ONLY Tesla’s DC power LARGE white and red chargers
- GOM – guess-o-meter indicating the estimated range based in the current charge.
- SEV – Solar Electric Vehicle
- SOC – state of charge, the current charge percentage
- SOH – state of health, the current health of the battery pack in terms of capacity, will degrade over several years.
EVSE – Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, charging equipment or charge point - Type 1- A Japanese plug type found on early Nissan Leafs or in the USA
- Type 2- EU standard plug size and now fitted on all EV’s
For kW – It’s for saying how powerful a motor is and not for how fast a motor is.