EV Charging Glossary: 25 Terms Explained Simply
6 min read · Updated 21 July 2026
EV charging comes with its own vocabulary. Here are the terms you'll actually meet, each explained in a sentence or two.
You don't need to be an engineer to charge an EV, but a handful of terms come up again and again. Here they are in plain English — bookmark this and the rest of the jargon stops being intimidating.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| kW (kilowatt) | Power — how fast energy flows into the battery. Higher kW = faster charging (up to your car's limit). |
| kWh (kilowatt-hour) | Energy — how much the battery holds and what you pay for. A 50 kWh battery stores about 50 kWh. |
| AC charging | Charging where the car's on-board charger converts alternating current to DC. Slower, cheaper, everywhere. |
| DC fast charging | Charging where the charger sends direct current straight to the battery. Faster, more expensive. |
| On-board charger | The unit inside the car that converts AC to DC. It sets your maximum AC charging speed. |
| CCS | Combined Charging System — the most common DC fast-charging connector for cars (CCS1/CCS2). |
| Type 2 / Type 1 | The standard AC connectors — Type 2 in most of the world, Type 1 in North America and Japan. |
| CHAdeMO | An older DC fast-charging connector, still used by some Japanese models. |
| NACS | North American Charging Standard — Tesla's connector, now adopted by many carmakers in North America. |
| GB/T | The Chinese charging standard for AC and DC. |
| State of charge (SoC) | How full the battery is, as a percentage — the EV equivalent of a fuel gauge. |
| Range | How far the car can go on a full charge. Real range is usually below the brochure figure at speed or in cold. |
| Rapid / ultra-rapid | Common names for DC chargers — 'rapid' from ~50 kW, 'ultra-rapid' from ~150 kW. |
| Wallbox | A home or workplace AC charger, typically 7.4–22 kW, mounted on a wall. |
| Session fee | A fixed fee some operators charge per plug-in, on top of the per-kWh price. |
| Idle fee | A per-minute fee for leaving the car plugged in after it's finished, to keep bays free. |
| Preconditioning | Warming (or cooling) the battery to an ideal temperature so it charges at full speed. |
| Tapering | The way DC charging slows as the battery fills, especially above 80%, to protect it. |
| ICEing | Blocking a charging bay with a non-charging car (originally an internal-combustion-engine car). |
| OCPP | Open Charge Point Protocol — an open standard connecting chargers to management software. |
| OCPI | Open Charge Point Interface — a standard that lets networks share charger and pricing data (roaming). |
| Roaming | Using one account or app to charge across multiple networks, similar to mobile-phone roaming. |
| CPO | Charge Point Operator — the company that runs and maintains a network of chargers. |
| Destination charging | Slower AC charging where you're parked anyway — hotels, malls, workplaces. |
| Access type | Whether a charger is public, private or members-only — check this before relying on it. |
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EV Connector Types Explained: CCS, Type 2, CHAdeMO, NACS & GB/T
An illustrated, plain-English guide to EV charging connectors — Type 2, Type 1, CCS1, CCS2, CHAdeMO, NACS (Tesla) and GB/T — with diagrams, specs, which connector each region and India use, and how to avoid the wrong plug.
AC vs DC Charging: What's the Difference and When to Use Each
AC and DC charging explained simply — why one is slow and one is fast, what the on-board charger does, and a simple rule for choosing between them.
What 7 kW, 22 kW, 50 kW and 150 kW Actually Mean
EV charging speeds in plain terms — what the kW rating on a charger means for real charging time, and why your car might not use all of it.
Educational guidance only; details vary by vehicle, operator and country — always check your car’s manual and confirm prices and availability at the station. Station data on ChargEV comes from Open Charge Map, OpenStreetMap and other open sources.