5 electric vehicle terms you need to know

WI T H el ectric vehicles becoming popular on South A f r i c a n r o a d s , t h e c o n - f u s i n g t e r mi n o l o g y mi g h t h ave s o me pet ro l heads s t r uggl i ng t o understand EVs, according to Motorpress.

Thanks to Jaguar South Africa, here are i ve mustknow terms when it comes to electric vehicles: kWh

kWh is a unit of energy and in electric vehicles, it is used to measure the storage capacity of batteries. Think of it as the size of your fuel tank in an electric vehicle.

The three letters stand for kilowatt hours. An F- PACE SVR uses an 82- litre fuel tank to supply petrol t o i t s V 8 s u p e r c h a r g e d e n g i n e , while the all- electric I- PACE gets i t s power f rom a 90kWh battery pack, positioned in the looring of the vehicle.

The bigger the number, the more energy an EV can store, and it is a very important factor to research when it comes to EVs.

kWh/ 100km kWh/ 100km measures an average ef iciency as we do on regular petrol and diesel vehicles. Think of it as litres per 100km or l/ 100km for short.

It is simply used as kilowatt hours used per 100km of distance driven. I t will be displayed i n your electric vehicle’s dashboard and will d e c r e a s e whe n d r i v i n g e a s y o r increase if driving fast.

For e. g, in the Jaguar I- PACE drivers can expect energy consumption igures ranging from 16.8kWh per 100km to 32.2kWh/ 100km. A low number will always i ndicate ef i - cient driving.

AC/ DC

AC stands for Alternating Current and DC stands for Direct Current. AC chargers are the wall box that is typically found in your garage and they are a bit slower to top up batteries. They are smaller, cheaper and more convenient than their heavy- duty DC counterparts.

DC c hargers a re re f e r re d t o a s r a p i d c h a r g e r s . T h e y a r e o f t e n f o u n d i n p u b l i c p l a c e s s u c h a s shopping malls and highway rest stops where installation costs are more viable and electricity supplies are stronger.

T h e J a g u a r Po we r way f o r e . g , f e a t u r e s a n e t work o f DC r a p i d chargers along frequently travelled i nner- city routes i n South Africa such as the N1, N2 and N3 highways.

Charge rates

To recharge a EV battery is a little more complex, as they accept varying rates of electricity low – this should help explain why it is dif icult to answer the question ‘ how long does it take to charge?’

A three- prong wall socket delivers around 2.3kW of energy, and even though an I_ PACE can recharge at this rate, it would take quite a while to charge from empty.

An I- PACE can accept a maximum charge rate of 100kW, which leads to a quicker recharge time, but requires expensive DC chargers that are mentioned above.

In a nutshell, charging rates differ at each charging station, especially in public areas. Most public chargers along the Jaguar Powerway can supply up to 60kW charge rates.

Brake regen

Electric motors like those in EVs a c t l i ke g e nerator s when r un i n reverse.

Brake regen or regeneration uses the inertia of a moving vehicle to produce electricity when coasting or slowing down and sends it back to the battery to be used again when accelerating.

I n a p e r f o r med t e s t by J a g u a r South Africa, an I- PACE returned 91.7kWh of regenerated electricity after driving a distance of 1000 km. This means t hat t he c a r ’ s brake regen system delivered a free ‘ tank’ of el ectrici t y when driven al ong a 1000 k m ro ute wit h pl e nt y o f s t opping, s t a r t i ng, c r ui s i ng a nd slowing down.

Most EVs wil l a l l ow dr i ve r s t o choose the level of brake regeneration applied while driving.