EV terms, plain English
EV charging terms in plain English. From kWh to NACS, what they mean and why they affect your bill.
kWh (Kilowatt-hour)
A kilowatt-hour is the unit of energy used in EV batteries and electricity bills. One kWh equals one kilowatt of power u...
SoC (State of Charge)
State of Charge is the percentage of usable energy left in the battery. SoC is reported on the dashboard like a fuel gau...
Level 1 charging (120V)
Level 1 charging uses a standard 120-volt household outlet at about 1.4 kW. It adds about 4 miles of range per hour, so ...
Level 2 charging (240V)
Level 2 charging uses 240V circuits delivering 7.4 to 19.2 kW. Most home Level 2 chargers run at 7.4 or 11 kW, adding 25...
DC Fast Charging
DC fast charging delivers direct current straight to the battery at 50 to 350 kW, bypassing the car's onboard AC inverte...
Supercharger
Supercharger is Tesla's branded DC fast charging network, with V3 sites delivering 250 kW peak and V4 sites delivering 3...
CCS (Combined Charging System)
CCS is the open DC fast charging standard used by most non-Tesla EVs in North America (CCS1) and across Europe (CCS2). T...
NACS (North American Charging Standard)
NACS is the connector originally developed by Tesla, opened up in 2022 and adopted by most North American automakers in ...