Glossary
the terms, plainly
One or two sentences per term, in the sense we use them on this site.
Last reviewed:
- AC charging
- Charging with alternating current; the car's on-board charger converts it. Up to 22 kW with three phases at 32 A.
- DC charging
- Charging with direct current from a charger that converts it; from 50 kW to more than 1 MW.
- AFIRAFIR
- EU Regulation 2023/1804 on alternative fuels infrastructure: targets for public charging and rules for price display and payment.
- aFRRaFRR
- Automatic frequency restoration reserve: a balancing service a battery can provide to the grid operator for payment.
- Battery energy storage systemBESS
- A battery with its power conversion and controls, used to store solar or cheap energy and release it at peaks.
- CCS2
- The European DC charging connector (Combined Charging System, type 2).
- Charge now
- Concept #3 charging mode: immediate charging with priority, at the hour's market price.
- Cheapest energy
- Concept #3 charging mode: the car is full by the time the driver sets, charged in the cheapest hours, at €0.29/kWh incl. VAT.
- Concept #3
- AMP X VOLT's shared charging system for residences on the building's existing connection, with dynamic load management, phase switching and zero admin for the syndic.
- Charge point operatorCPO
- The company that runs charging stations: energy, access, billing, support.
- Day-ahead price
- The hourly (now quarter-hourly) electricity price set the day before on EPEX SPOT; known up to 35 hours ahead.
- Dynamic load management
- Real-time sharing of a connection's spare capacity between chargers, so the limit is never crossed.
- eMSPeMSP
- E-mobility service provider: issues charging cards and apps that work across operators (roaming).
- Energy management systemEMS
- The controller that decides where energy goes on a site: grid, battery, solar, chargers, flexible loads.
- EPBDEPBD
- Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2024/1275; Article 14 covers charging in car parks.
- FCRFCR
- Frequency containment reserve: the fastest balancing service; batteries respond within seconds.
- ISO 15118-20
- The standard for communication between car and charger: Plug & Charge and bidirectional charging. A Luxembourg subsidy condition from 1 January 2027.
- LiFePO4
- Lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry: long cycle life, high thermal stability.
- Load management controllerLMC
- VOOL's controller at the grid connection: measures every 100 ms, sets the charging budget, switches phases.
- MCSMCS
- Megawatt Charging System: the connector standard for megawatt truck charging.
- OCPPOCPP
- Open Charge Point Protocol: how a charger talks to its back-end; versions 1.6 and 2.0.1.
- Partie commune
- The shared part of a residence's charging installation, decided by the general assembly and paid by all co-owners.
- Partie privative
- A co-owner's own charger, ordered and paid by that owner.
- Peak shaving
- Keeping a site's power peak low, often with a battery, to cut power-based grid fees.
- Phase switching
- Moving each charger to the phase with the most headroom in real time; VOOL's patented way to balance L1, L2 and L3 (European patent EP 4 285 454 B1, granted 2025).
- Power band
- The reference power a meter subscribes under the Luxembourg network tariff; a bigger band costs more every month.
- SMARTY
- Luxembourg's smart electricity meter.
- V2Xvehicle-to-everything
- The car's battery gives energy back instead of only taking it: to the grid (V2G, vehicle-to-grid), to the home or building (V2H and V2B, vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-building) or to devices (V2L, vehicle-to-load). Bidirectional AC charging builds on ISO 15118-20.