Glossary of Terms
This brief list of industry terminologies may be helpful as you read content on this website and embark on transportation electrification projects.
- BET
- Battery-electric truck
- Charge Rate
- The rate at which a truck battery can charge, measured in kilowatts (kW). A faster charge rate increases the speed of recharging. As you plan charging infrastructure, consider whether the chargers you select can support the maximum charge rate of the trucks.
- CCS1
- CCS1 is a type of connector found on the end of the charging dispenser cable, which connects directly to the truck. It is important to verify the truck and the charger have the same connectors as you are configuring hardware.
- DCFC
- DC Fast Chargers are high-power direct-current chargers that delivery higher charge rates for faster recharge of vehicles.
- Drayage
- The transport of freight from an ocean port to a relatively nearby destination such as an intermodal freight facility, warehouse or distribution center.
- Dual Dispenser (Dual Port)
- EVSE Charger hardware with two charger cables that can charge two vehicles at once.
- Energy Storage
- Onsite, stationary battery-storage that delivers extra energy when needed, and captures energy when the utility price is lower or onsite solar generates excess energy. These are typically measured in MWh of total storage.
- ESG
- Environmental, Social and Governance, which is often an area of corporate focus, fueling interest in BETs.
- EVSE
- Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, which means the charging equipment that supplies energy to the truck.
- Grid
- The utility-operated energy transmission and distribution infrastructure.
- kW
- A kilowatt is a unit of measure of electricity and typically refers to the rate of energy delivery, such as the charging rate. In layman’s terms, this is a similar concept to the size of the pipe delivering water.
- kWh
- A kilowatt hour is the unit of measure for electrical energy, used to describe total battery pack size or total energy that has been delivered during a charging session. In layman’s terms, this is like measuring how much water has been delivered to fill a bathtub.
- Load
- A number describing how much energy your site uses from the utility service, often expressed in MW.
- Microgrid
- An onsite combination of electricity generation (e.g. solar), plus energy storage (stationary batteries) and related electrical circuitry to optimize local energy availability, sometimes allowing off-grid operation.
- MW
- A megawatt (MW) is a unit of measure for electricity equal to 1000 kW and typically refers to the rate of energy delivery, such as the utility service feeding a site. In layman’s terms, this is a similar concept to the size of the pipe delivering water.
- MWh
- A megawatt hour (MWh) is a large unit of energy, equal to 1000 kWh, and often refers to how much total energy can be stored in a battery or the amount of energy that has been delivered during a charging session. In layman’s terms, this is like measuring how much water has been delivered to fill a bathtub.
- MCS
- The Megawatt Charging System defines a new ultrafast charging standard for vehicles equipped to support this new standard. It refers to EVSE that is capable of delivering a megawatt or more of charging rate.
- OEM
- Original equipment manufacturer, which describes the vendor providing charger products and vehicles.
- Peak Shaving
- If it is desirable to limit total electric load on the utility service, to work within constraints of utility service capacity or avoid peak load demand charges, some of the facility’s load can be served by onsite battery storage, which reduces the maximum load being placed on the utility service. This can be useful to reduce stress on the grid.
- Peak Shifting
- During times of peak demand on the grid (i.e. 4-9 p.m.), energy costs more (time of use pricing). Fleets often shift their charging load to times when energy prices are lower. This can be done with onsite energy storage or programming chargers to deliver more energy when TOU prices are lower.
- Regenerative Braking
- Electric vehicles have traditional brakes, but also slow down when the driver lifts their foot off the accelerator, which changes the electric drive motors into generators that recharge the battery. The truck’s momentum is thus captured, adding 5-15% to the driving range of the truck. Optimizing regenerative braking is part of driver training.
- Single Dispenser (Single Port)
- EVSE Charger hardware with one charger cable that can charge one vehicle at a time.
- Second Life Batteries
- Over the long term as a vehicle’s batteries age, lose energy density, and are replaced, these batteries still have substantial energy storage capacity and can be used in stationary energy storage applications, an emerging field.
- TOU
- Time of Use, most often referring to utility energy pricing that varies based on time of day.
- ZEV
- Zero Emission Vehicle
