EV (fully electric car)
A car driven solely by one or more electric motors that draws its energy from a battery charged at a charging point.
EV stands for electric vehicle and on this site refers to a fully electric passenger car, also called BEV (battery electric vehicle) in English. The drivetrain consists of one or more electric motors and a traction battery; there is no combustion engine and no fuel tank. Energy comes from a socket, a wallbox or a (fast) charging point.
The driving range on a full battery is called the range and is stated by the manufacturer as a WLTP figure. In real-world use the range turns out lower, especially at motorway speeds and in cold weather; see the terms range, real-world consumption and heat pump (EV). For the charging side, AC and DC charging power, the charging curve and the 10-80% charging time are the relevant figures.
On this site we call a model an "EV" when the manufacturer sells it as fully electric. Plug-in hybrids (PHEV), full hybrids (HEV) and mild hybrids (MHEV) do not belong in this category; they have their own term.
See also: PHEV (plug-in hybrid), Hybrid (self-charging), Range, Charging power (AC/DC), Battery degradation
Source: Concept explanation (drivetrain typology); reference date 2026-05-21
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