What are the different types of EVs?

Modern electric vehicles typically have a 300 to 600km range per charge and fall into three categories:

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)

• Have both an electric motor and a battery.
• Can be recharged by plugging into a wall outlet or, ideally, a charging station.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

• Have an electric motor and battery that can be recharged by plugging in but also include a gas engine that may be used to recharge the vehicle’s battery or take over for the electric motor.
• Because PHEVs can be recharged by plugging in, most daily driving can be done without ever using a gas engine.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)

• Work with an electric motor and battery, but instead of plugging in, the battery is charged by converting hydrogen to electricity onboard.
• Are refuelled at public hydrogen stations and are similar to pumping gas.

Note that traditional hybrids (i.e. non plug-ins) have an electric motor but a very small battery that can only be recharged by the gas engine or regenerative braking systems. So, they aren’t considered to be electric vehicles.

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