EV stands for electric vehicle. An EV charger is the equipment that safely supplies electricity to an electric vehicle’s battery. In technical documents you will also see EVSE, which stands for electric vehicle supply equipment, the formal name for what most people call a charger or charging station.
What Counts as an EV?
An electric vehicle uses an electric motor powered by a battery for some or all of its driving. Two types plug in to charge:
- BEV (battery electric vehicle): runs only on electricity and must be charged from the grid.
- PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle): has a smaller battery for shorter electric driving plus a gasoline engine.
A standard hybrid (HEV) charges its battery while driving and cannot be plugged in, so it does not use an EV charger. If you drive a plug-in hybrid, see do I need an EV charger for a plug-in hybrid.
Common EV Charging Terms
| Term | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| EV | Electric vehicle | Any vehicle driven by an electric motor and battery |
| EVSE | Electric vehicle supply equipment | The charger, cable and connector that deliver power safely |
| kW | Kilowatt | Charging power: how fast energy flows |
| kWh | Kilowatt-hour | Energy: how much the battery holds or how much you used |
| AC / DC | Alternating / direct current | Home and Level 2 chargers supply AC; DC fast chargers supply DC directly to the battery |
| J1772 | SAE standard J1772 | The common Level 2 connector for many North American EVs |
| NACS | North American Charging Standard | The connector developed by Tesla, standardized as SAE J3400 |
| CCS | Combined Charging System | A connector that adds DC pins to J1772 (CCS1) or Type 2 (CCS2) |
| OCPP | Open Charge Point Protocol | A protocol that lets commercial chargers talk to management software |
| V2G / V2H | Vehicle-to-grid / vehicle-to-home | Using the car battery to send power back to the grid or a house |
Why “Charger” Is Technically Imprecise
For Level 1 and Level 2 charging, the wall unit is not the part that charges the battery. The car has an onboard charger that converts AC from the wall to DC for the battery. The wall unit, the EVSE, checks that the connection is safe and tells the car how much current is available. With DC fast charging, the conversion happens inside the station instead. Our explainer on whether EV chargers are AC or DC covers this in more detail.
Charging Levels in Plain Terms
The U.S. DOT groups charging into three levels:
- Level 1: about 1 kW from a standard outlet, adding 2–5 miles of range per hour.
- Level 2: 7–19 kW from a 240 V circuit, adding 10–20 miles per hour.
- DC fast charging: 50–350 kW, adding 180–240 miles per hour.
See Level 1 vs Level 2 vs DC fast charging for a practical comparison.
EVDANCE Chargers
EVDANCE builds EVSE for home, travel and business, from the EV-ACT5006T 48A Level 2 wall charger to the EV-RHDC30K-L compact DC fast charger. Browse the full product range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an EV charger the same as EVSE?
In everyday use, yes. EVSE is the formal term used in codes and standards, including the National Electrical Code.
Does EV include hybrids?
Plug-in hybrids are usually counted as EVs because they charge from the grid. Standard hybrids are not.
What does Level 3 mean?
It is an informal name for DC fast charging. Official US sources use “DC fast charging.”
Related Reading
- What Is J1772? The North American EV Plug Explained
- Is the Tesla Charger NACS? NACS, J3400 and Adapters Explained
- Is DC Fast Charging Level 3?
- How Do Home EV Chargers Work?
Key Takeaways
- EV means electric vehicle; EVSE is the formal name for the charger.
- BEVs and PHEVs plug in; standard hybrids do not.
- kW measures charging speed, kWh measures energy.
- For AC charging, the car’s onboard charger does the conversion.