Tesla Acronyms Glossary – Simplified and Global Version
This guide contains essential acronyms and terms useful for understanding Tesla ownership and electric vehicles in general. It has been refined to remove regional or outdated references, with a global audience in mind.
EV Basics
- EV – Electric Vehicle
- BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle
- PHEV – Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- ICE – Internal Combustion Engine
- SoC – State of Charge (battery percentage)
- AC – Alternating Current (used for home and public slow charging)
- DC – Direct Current (used for fast charging, e.g., Superchargers)
- kW – Kilowatt (unit of power)
- kWh – Kilowatt-hour (unit of energy)
- Wh/mi or Wh/km – Watt-hours per mile/kilometre (energy efficiency)
Tesla Features & Hardware
- AP – Autopilot
- AP2 / AP2.5 – Autopilot Hardware versions
- AS – Auto Steer
- AWD – All-Wheel Drive
- FWD – 1. Front-Wheel Drive, 2. Falcon Wing Doors (Model X)
- RWD – Rear-Wheel Drive
- TACC – Traffic Aware Cruise Control
- MCU – Media Control Unit (the car’s touchscreen & control computer)
- CID – Central Information Display
- HUD – Head-Up Display (not available on all Teslas)
- OTA – Over-the-Air software updates
- HEPA – High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter
- BioWeapon Defense Mode – Advanced cabin filtration system
Charging & Connectors
- UMC – Universal Mobile Connector (Tesla’s portable charge cable)
- EVSE – Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (general charger hardware)
- CHAdeMO – Japanese DC fast charging standard (adapter needed)
- CCS – Combined Charging System (fast charging standard in EU/US)
- J1772 – Standard AC plug in North America (adapter required for Tesla)
- Single Phase – Typical residential power, supports slower charging
- Three Phase – Industrial-grade power, supports faster AC charging
- Destination Charger – Tesla-branded AC chargers at hotels/restaurants
- Supercharger (SuC) – Tesla’s fast DC charging network
- Idle Fees – Penalties charged when a car stays plugged in after charging
Tesla Models & Variants
- MS – Model S
- MX – Model X
- M3 – Model 3
- MY – Model Y
- 60 / 75 / 85 / 90 / 100 – Battery sizes in kWh for S/X models
- D – Dual Motor (AWD)
- P – Performance variant
- L / L+ – Ludicrous / Ludicrous+ (performance mode)
- Plaid / Maximum Plaid – Tesla’s highest performance mode
Locations & Manufacturing
- Fremont – Tesla’s main manufacturing plant (California, USA)
- GF – Gigafactory (Tesla’s large-scale production sites worldwide)
- Tilburg – Assembly site for European deliveries (Netherlands)
- VIN – Vehicle Identification Number
Common Community Terms
- RTFM – Read The Manual
- IMO – In My Opinion
- OP – Original Poster
- TL;DR – Too Long; Didn’t Read
- YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary
