When reading about alternative cars, fuel alternatives, all electric cars and so forth, it’s common to see acronyms and terms used and these EV cars “jargon” are something that often confuses those who are not necessarily electric car geeks. To help explain these terms to those who might not understand them, I’ve compiled this little list.
For starters, let’s look at electric cars, which are often referred to by several monikers which designate their power train type. These include all electric cars (aka “battery electrics”), hybrids of various types, and so forth.
All Electric Car – Battery Electric
These terms, along with their acronyms BEV (battery electric vehicle) and EV (electric vehicle), are commonly bandied about to describe alternative vehicles that run entirely on electricity that is stored in batteries on the vehicle. These include the Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf. These cars plug into a wall socket or other power source to recharge their batteries and once those batteries are “empty” the car can no longer operate. There is no backup source of power.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric – Range Extended Electric
These are often seen as their acronyms PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), RE-EV (range extended electric vehicle), or are just called “plug-ins.” These are vehicles that run all-electric, as do their BEV cousins, but have another source of on-board power generation such as a gasoline engine, which extends their range by giving a second source of electricity beyond the batteries. The Fisker Karma and Chevy Volt are RE-EVs as is Neil Young’s LincVolt.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle
If the world were entirely logical, an HFCV or FCV (fuel cell vehicle) would be just another type of RE-EV/PHEV. As it is, the technology of fuel cells seems to somehow take these vehicles beyond just being another plug-in and makes them some type of fuel alternative of a different class. The Honda FCX Clarity and Vision Tyrano are FCVs.
Bio Fuels – Biodiesel, Biobutanol, Ethanol
Many alternative cars are run on various types of biologically-based fuels. These include biodiesel, biobutanol, and ethanol. Biodiesel and Ethanol are the most common and are usually labeled with a B or E number, respectively, designating their bio-fuel mix percentage.
So B15 at the pump is 15% biodiesel and 85% petroleum diesel in a mix. These are often mixed this way because the pure biological diesel may not run well in most diesel engines and could void warranties. Most diesel engines will have a manufacturer’s statement giving how much the mix can be (most are B5, B10, or B20) and the use of anything with more than that amount of bio-based diesel fuel will void that warranty.
Similarly, E10 at the pump is 10% biologically-based ethanol mixed with 90% petroleum gasoline. As with biodiesel, most engine warranties do not allow more than a certain amount of ethanol in the mix. Most gasoline engines can use up to E10 (10%) and the government is considering raising that to E15 this year pending new data.
Butanol is often used as a full replacement for gasoline, as it has very similar properties, but is not as wide spread.
Other Bio Fuels – Greasel, Vegetable Oil
SVO (straight vegetable oil) and greasel or WVO (waste vegetable oil; used cooking grease) are likely the most common “home brew” diesel replacements. SVO is often used in South America and some parts of Africa as a fuel for farm machinery. Greasel is a common way for diesel vehicles to be converted to run on cheap (or even free) fuel with few changes to the engine being required.
Natural Gas – Methane, Propane
There are many types of NGV (natural gas vehicle) options out there. All natural gas is methane which has been stored in various forms. LPG (liquified petroleum gas), CNG (compressed natural gas), and propane are the most common types of methane in use for alternative vehicles.
Battery Types – Lithium, Nickel
The most common battery types mentioned in electric, hybrid, and other alternative cars are Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and NiMH (nickel-metal hydride). NiMH batteries are used in the Toyota Prius while Lithium-ion batteries are the most common type used for electric vehicle batteries.
There are several types of Lithium-ion batteries in use, usually designated by the metal or substance used to act as a catalyst with the lithium. LiFePO4 (lithium-ion phosphate) is one of the more common types you’ll see mentioned.
Miscellaneous Acronyms
Finally, a few miscellaneous acronyms you’ll see quite often include:
- CAFE – Corporate Average Fuel Economy; a standard created by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate entire fleets from an auto manufacturer. These are the minimum standards often referred to in EPA requirements for manufacturer’s to meet. So a CAFE mandate of 25mpg by a certain year means that the average fuel economy for every vehicle in an automaker’s line must be 25mpg.
- H2 – hydrogen’s symbol on the periodic table.
- ICE – internal combustion engine; these include gasoline, diesel, and their respective alternatives.
- TDI – Turbo-charged Direct Injection, one of the newer and most efficient types of diesel engines for small and light-duty vehicles. Many European manufacturers, such as Audi and Volkswagen, use TDI technology in their most fuel-efficient vehicles.
- ZEV – zero emissions vehicle; this refers to any vehicle that gives no emissions from its tailpipe. It’s most often used to refer to all electric cars or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but can also refer to vehicles that run on compressed air, human power (bicycles), and so forth.
Hopefully this list will help you better understand the fun world of alternative vehicles!
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