FAQ

INDUSTRY
TERMINOLOGY

• Amperage

  The rate of flow of electrons through a circuit, a.k.a. current

• Average Power

  The amount of power that your fleet requires while charging, averaged over the charging window

• BEV

  Battery-electric vehicle

• BEV Demand

  The amount of power supplied to BEVs during charging

• Charging Rate

  The rate at which a BEV is charged, measured in kilowatts (kW)

• CHAdeMO Plug

  A round four-pin plug that is exclusively used for rapid charging points and is often compatible with electric vehicles manufactured in Asia, such as Mitsubishi and Nissan. CHAdeMO offers Vehicle to Grid (V2G) but has less power than CCS and requires two separate sockets.

• Charging Window

  The period of time in your fleet’s duty cycle when vehicles can charge

• Circuit

  The path along which electricity flows

• Cloud-Based Communications

  A wireless internet-based service carrying information on EVSE status, energy consumption, location, and payment for use between the owner and the user(s)

• Combined Charging System (CCS)

  A type of connector that has been standardized. It combines two DC pins below the Type 2 AC connector and uses 3 of the Type 2 pins. This connector is found on most Type 2 BEVs.

• DCFC

  Direct current fast charge, usually stated as DC fast charge

• Demand Charge

  A fee applied to your greatest power draw during peak periods, on top of the rate that you pay for the energy ($/kW)

• Distribution

  The process of delivering power from transmission lines to the customer

• Duty Cycle

  The portion of time during which a vehicle is operated

• Energy Charge

  Your baseline price of electricity, charged based on the amount of energy you consume ($/kWh)

• EV

  Electric vehicle

• EVSE

  Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, or the charger unit

• Fixed Charge

  A fee covering the regulator-approved costs that the utility pays to supply your power such as distribution and transmission ($/month)

• Flat Rate

  A rate structure under which you are billed at a single price per kilowatt-hour consumed regardless of time, season or application

• Generation

  The process of producing electricity from a fuel source

• Handshake

  When you connect the plug into the vehicle the car will electronically handshake with the charging station. Once the handshake is made, the relay in the charging station will open, allowing electrons to flow to the car. When you disconnect the plug, the electricity stops flowing through the cable.

• ICE

  Internal Combustion Engine

• ISO 15118

  An international standard that outlines the digital communication protocol that an electric vehicle and a charging station should use to recharge an electric vehicle’s battery

• kW

  One kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts

• kWh

  Kilowatt-hour, a unit of measure for electrical energy. 1 kWh is the energy delivered by 1 kW of power for 1 hour

• Level 1 charging

  Level 1 charging uses a common 120-volt household outlet. Every electric vehicle can be charged on Level 1 by plugging the charging equipment into a regular wall outlet. Level 1 is the slowest way to charge an EV. It is too slow to be used for buses or commercial vehicles.

• Level 2 charging

  Level 2 charging is the most commonly used level for daily EV charging of automobiles. Level 2 charging equipment can be installed at home, at the workplace, as well as in public locations like shopping plazas, train

• Level 3 charging

  Level 3 charging is the fastest type of charging available. Unlike Level 1 and Level 2 charging that uses alternating current (AC), Level 3 charging uses direct current (DC). It is the most common level of charging for school buses and commercial trucks.

• Load Profile

  A graph showing the amount(s) of power that your fleet requires over the course of a day

• Meter

  A device that records the amount of power (kW) and energy (kWh)

• MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent)

  The official metric that the EPA uses to measure the efficiency of alternative-fuel (including electric) vehicles. This makes it the most common number you’ll come across when researching an electric vehicle. Just like regular MPG shows how far a car will travel on one gallon of gas, MPGe shows how far a vehicle will drive on 33.7 kWh of electricity – the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline

• Networking Service

  An internet-based service that allows an EVSE owner to analyze basic activity data from one or more EVSE

• Peak Shaving

  A strategy to reduce power consumption during periods of high demand

• Power Factor Adjustment

  An adjustment to your demand charge according to how efficiently your facility consumes power

• Rate Structure

  A set of parameters used to define the prices that a customer may be charged at different times of the day

• Regenerative Braking

  Regenerative braking uses the vehicle’s motors to slow down the vehicle rather than the friction brakes.  This sends energy back into the batteries for future use, which extends range.

• Seasonal Rate

  Additional distribution fees covering the costs of weather stressors on the electric grid during winter or summer

• State of Charge (SOC)

  The equivalent of a fuel gauge for the rechargeable battery within an electric vehicle. SOC is measured by percentage points and ranges from 0% to 100%. This enables the EV driver to see how much charge their vehicle is currently holding.

• Substation

  A set of electric equipment that reduces high-voltage power to a voltage suitable for distribution to customers

• Time-of-Use (TOU)

  A rate structure under which you are billed different prices for power you consume according to the time and season when it is consumed

• Transformer

  A device that changes electricity from one level of voltage to another

• Transmission

  The process of moving power in large quantities across long distances

• Voltage

  Pressure created by a difference in electrical charge between two points

• Watt

  One watt is defined as the current flow of one ampere with voltage of one volt

• ZEV

  Zero-Emission Vehicle