The automotive industry is in the middle of a massive shift, moving away from traditional combustion engines to almost exclusively focussing on electric.
Whilst prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced this week that the ban on new petrol and diesel cars would be pushed back from 2030 to 2035, the change is still coming, and it's important to stay up to date on electric developments.
But with acronyms at every turn and new terminology for us to learn, the switch to electric can seem pretty daunting at first. To help ease this transition to the next phase of automobile life, we’ve prepared a brief description for some of the more common electric vehicle (or EV) acronyms and jargon.
ICE vehicles
ICE stands for internal combustion engine. It refers to the traditional engines used in cars that we are all familiar with and includes both petrol and diesel engines. These engines use fuel which they combust, or burn, to produce energy that drives the wheels and in turn, the vehicle, forward.
EV
EV stands for electric vehicle. These refer to vehicles that house batteries to power the wheels and drive the car forward. Rather than filling the vehicle with fuel, like petrol or diesel, the battery must be charged, either through regenerative braking or by plugging the vehicle into the mains. They come in many different variations, but are known for producing zero emissions at exhaust, being far less complicated than ICE vehicles due to needing fewer moving parts, and producing instant torque when accelerating.
BEV
BEV stands for battery electric vehicle, though they are also often referred to as ‘all-electric vehicles’ or just ‘EVs’. BEVs exclusively use their electric battery to drive the car and must be plugged into the mains to charge the battery.
HEV
HEV stands for hybrid electric vehicle and are also often referred to as just ‘hybrids’. HEVs have both an ICE as well as an electric battery. The majority of the energy comes from the combustion engine, but, when travelling at low speeds or around a town, the electric battery will take over, saving on fuel and lowering the vehicle’s CO2 emissions. The battery in an HEV cannot be charged manually, rather it is charged automatically through regenerative braking.
PHEV
PHEV stands for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and is often referred to as a ‘plug-in hybrid’ or just a ‘plug-in’. These are similar to HEVs, as they both have an ICE and an electric battery. However, the main difference is that a PHEV has a much larger batter than a traditional HEV, meaning that much more of your journey will be powered by electricity rather than the combustion engine. As this means you are likely going to need to rely on electricity more, you are able to charge the battery by ‘plugging into’ your mains rather than solely relying on regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is the act of using the kinetic energy from using your brakes to charge your EV’s battery. Almost all EVs do this, but it is most prevalent in HEVs as the main way to charge their batteries.
Range anxiety
Range anxiety is the fear that that an electric car’s range is not as good as a traditional ICE vehicle. Coupled with how long some EVs can take to charge, there is a belief that EVs aren’t useful outside of small journeys or city driving. However, as the public charge network continues to grow and the technology of how EVs charge improves, range anxiety is fast becoming a thing of the past.
What if your EV battery does run out while you are out and about? Check out this blog to find out more.
You can help avoid ever running out of power by making sure you have the right sort of porable EV charging cables to capitalise on any charging points that come your way.
These are just some of the common jargon phrases, but this list far from exhaustive; if you want to know more about EVs, make sure to visit one of the Arnold Clark Innovation Centres. You’ll find everything you need to understand how electric driving can work for you, test-drive some of the latest EVs for yourself, and our innovation geniuses will be on hand to answer any questions you have about EV driving.
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