Glossary
EV terms, explained
The words you'll meet when shopping for an EV in Sri Lanka — in plain English, with the local angle.
- kWh (kilowatt-hour)
- A unit of energy — how much your battery holds and how electricity is billed. A 60 kWh battery charged at off-peak 21 LKR/kWh costs about LKR 1,260 to fill from empty.
- kW (kilowatt)
- A unit of power — the rate of energy flow. A charger's kW rating sets how fast it charges; a motor's kW rating is its output. Don't confuse with kWh (the stored amount).
- WLTP range
- A standardised lab estimate of how far a car goes on a full charge. Real Sri Lankan range is lower — hills and air-conditioning in the heat both cut it; our route planner models this.
- State of Health (SoH)
- How much capacity a battery retains versus when new, as a percentage. The single most important number when buying a used EV.
- State of Charge (SoC)
- How full the battery is right now, as a percentage — the EV equivalent of a fuel gauge.
- AC vs DC charging
- AC (home/destination, slower, kW in single digits to ~11) uses the car's onboard charger; DC (public fast charging, tens to hundreds of kW) feeds the battery directly. Most home charging is AC; road-trip charging is DC.
- CCS2
- The Combined Charging System (Type 2) connector — the DC fast-charging standard on most new EVs sold here (BYD, MG).
- CHAdeMO
- An older DC fast-charging standard, used by the Nissan Leaf among others. Being phased out in favour of CCS2.
- Type 2
- The standard AC charging connector used for home and destination charging in Sri Lanka.
- Regenerative braking
- Recovering energy when you lift off or brake, feeding it back to the battery. It extends range and means the friction brakes are used so little they can last the life of the car.
- V2L (Vehicle-to-Load)
- Using the car's battery as a power source for appliances or tools via an adapter — handy during outages. Output is quoted in kW (e.g. 3.3 kW).
- LFP vs NMC
- Two battery chemistries. LFP (lithium iron phosphate, e.g. BYD Blade) is durable, tolerates 100% charging and is fire-safe; NMC packs more energy for the weight. Both are common here.
- OCPP
- Open Charge Point Protocol — the open standard charging stations use to talk to networks. It's what lets a charger be monitored and managed remotely.
- TOU / off-peak tariff
- Time-of-Use electricity pricing. CEB's domestic off-peak window (22:30–05:30) is the cheapest time to charge — ideal for overnight home charging.
- Single vs three-phase supply
- Your home's electricity connection. It affects the maximum AC charging speed you can install; check yours before buying a wall box.
- BEV vs PHEV vs hybrid
- BEV is fully battery-electric (what this hub focuses on). PHEV (plug-in hybrid) has a battery plus a petrol engine. A 'hybrid' (HEV) can't be plugged in. Sri Lanka's tax bands differ by type.