Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) run 100 percent on electricity with a battery pack that powers an electric drivetrain. When depleted, the battery is recharged from a wall socket or a dedicated charging unit. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) also have an electric motor and battery but use a gasoline-powered engine when the battery runs low.

No, an electric vehicle (EV) and a hybrid vehicle are not the same. An EV runs solely on electricity and has no internal combustion engine, while a hybrid vehicle has both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.

There are a lot of new terms to learn with for EVs. EVSE stands for “Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment” also more commonly referred to as a “Charging Station”. Kwh, or “Kilowatts-Hours,” is a unit of energy equivalent to the energy transferred or expended in one hour by one kilowatt of power. Electric car battery size is measured in kilowatt-hours, so it can be compared as the electric car’s equivalent of gallons of fuel in a gas tank. OBC is the “On Board Charger” (the hose) which is a system which converts the AC input from the grid to a DC input which charges the battery.

Finding the right charger will come down to the capabilities of your electric vehicle and how much driving you plan on doing. L1 chargers are portable, and come free with your EV. Most EV drivers need to have regular access to an L2 charger, whether it’s a home charger, the one at your place of work, or somewhere else. L3 chargers are the most powerful chargers in the industry, and will charge your vehicle in a short amount of time.

If you can't charge at home with your L1 portable or L2 charger, consider going to a public charging station. You can find their locations online, or with an App on your mobile device. Public charging stations are often found in high-traffic areas like shopping districts, parking lots & garages, and other highly populated areas.

That depends on the type of charging station you use, your EV's battery capacity, and how much you drive. Regardless of the type of charging station, the speed at which an EV battery charges is always limited by the maximum amount of power it can handle.

This mostly depends on the type of charger you plan on installing at home. If you use your L1 portable charging cable, then any outlet should work. Though, most who are able to use an L2 will need to have a dedicated circuit in your home to hard-wire it to. Portable models plug into standard 240-volt dryer receptacles (3 or 4 prong outlets meant for heavy-duty appliances).

For further reference, visit Electrical Safety Authority: Electric Vehicles & Charging Systems - ESA (esasafe.com)