Glossary
The following are commonly used terms and acronyms when referring to alternative fueled vehicles and technology. These should help if you have any questions about the terminology appearing in any article appearing here on GreenBigTruck.
B# (B5, B99, etc.) – Commonly called “biodiesel,” this is the mixture rating for the fuel. The number indicates the amount of biologically-based diesel in the mix. So B5 is 95% petroleum-based diesel fuel.
Biodiesel – Biologically-based diesel fuel. Most biodiesel in the United States is made from soybean oil, though it can be made from virtually any plant-based (vegetable) oil. The most well-known biodiesel in the U.S. is “Bio Willie” from Willie Nielson, the country music singer. His biodiesel is made from soybean oil. Pure biodiesel is almost exactly the same in most properties as petrol-diesel. Go here for more information.
Butanol (or biobutanol) – A gasoline replacement made by fermenting plant or other biologicals. Biobutanol is almost exactly equivalent to unleaded gasoline in BTU rating, but requires more energy to produce in quantity than does ethanol.
CAFE – Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. This is the U.S. system for determining the overall mileage of all models in a manufacturer’s fleet. It’s similar to the miles per gallon (MPG) standard the Environmental Protection Agency requires all new vehicles to display on their window stickers. CAFE, however, is the standard to which manufacturers are held when the government sets minimum vehicle standards.
E# (E85, E10, etc.) – Similar to biodiesel (B, above), this rating is for ethanol. As with biodiesel, the number after the E signals how much biologically-based fuel is used, giving the ratio of renewable to petroleum in the gasoline. E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% petroleum-based gasoline.
Ethanol – Gasoline made from vegetable oil. In the United States, it is usually made from corn oil. Ethanol has about 74% of the BTU rating of unleaded gasoline, thus most gasoline vehicles cannot burn pure ethanol safely.
ER-EV – Extended Range Electric Vehicle. See plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
Fuel-Cell – a thermodynamically open system (as opposed to the closed system of standard batteries) that produces electricity from a fuel and an oxidant by combining them to release electrons. Read more here.
Hydrogen – One of the most abundant elements in the universe, hydrogen makes up 2 of water’s 3 parts and is used most often in transportation as a fuel for fuel cells to produce electricity and as an additive to be injected into combustion engines to increase their output.
ICE – Internal Combustion Engine. Any engine which burns a fuel (“combusts”) in order to power itself. Diesel, gasoline, natural gas, and other fuels are used in ICE engines.
Li-ion – Lithium-ion is an element in a type of battery chemistry of the same name which utilizes the ionic charge difference of substances to store and release electric power. These are the most common batteries used in cell phones, portable computers, and electric vehicles.
NiMH – Nickel-metal hydride is a type of battery chemistry which is used in many hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius. If you use small, rechargeable batteries, such as AA-sized, they are likely NiMH batteries.
PHEV – Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. This refers to hybrid vehicles which can be powered as all-electric vehicles for a distance, but then use a “range extender” (usually an ICE) to increase their range. The secondary (range extension) source can be an ICE, a fuel cell, or any other power source that keeps the car moving. Often an ICE is used to generate power to continue electrical operation of the vehicle.
SVO (or “greasel”) – Straight Vegetable Oil. Most diesel engines are capable of using SVO to power them. In fact, when Diesel invented his engine, he created it to run on vegetable oil, but petroleum-based diesel became cheaper and easier to access logistically. The refinery process for making crude oil into diesel fuel basically strips the oil down to its basic vegetable oil-like qualities.
TDI – Turbo-charged Direct Injection is common in diesel engines, especially in smaller performance cars. In fact, TDI cars have won the Green Car of the Year Award two years running with their technology.
TSI – Turbo Stratified Injection is common in large-block diesel engines, increasing power without increasing fuel use. Turbo and superchargers are often fitted to big truck diesel engines for this reason.
ULSD – Ultra-low Sulfur Diesel is diesel fuel that has had much of its sulfur content removed in order to lower emissions from the fuel’s burning. Read more about it at this link.
WVO – Waste Vegetable Oil. Similar to SVO above, this is used vegetable oil rather than new. It usually comes from the fry pit of deep fryers or similar sources.
ZEV – Zero Emissions Vehicle or a vehicle that emits no tailpipe emissions, such as an all-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell or other vehicle. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has an official definition of this for vehicle classification.
Note: this list is a work-in-progress. If you have any suggestions for additions or changes to this list, please contact GBT!
