> These acronyms are a nightmare, what the hell is a PHEV? EREV? PZEV?

PHEV is the old term, it's a plug in hybrid EV. I.e., you can plug it in and use the battery, or use the ICE engine via petrol (gasoline).

(B)EVs are pure battery EVs. Think Tesla.

REEV/EREV is range extender EV. Essentially an EV that has a small ICE engine that's very handy for making the 50 or 100km battery "run" for 500km if the need arises, by using the ICE as a generator.

In some countries, you also have "strong" and "weak" hybrids - these are not cars you can plug in (they only take petrol), but they use some motors and battery to vastly improve the efficiency of the engine. Think doubling your mileage levels of good.

> Consumers are just expected to know this stuff somehow, it’s nuts.

Yeah no I don't think that's good design either. May I ask what kind of parts do you buy that makes it so confusing? Our car (Honda) has a very simple model name, there's not a lot of variations or options to confuse to begin with.

Btw, if you want a real fun doozy, look up the parallel series hybrid system that iirc GM had. It was a beautiful beast - it could basically take any power source, and do anything with it (charge battery, run wheels etc). There's a good YouTube video on it if you search for it.