Reference

Glossary

Operator-fluent definitions for every term used across the curriculum. Cross-references to franchisee curriculum where overlap exists.

Glossary — HiON Executive Curriculum

Document version: v0.1 — 2026-05-20

Terms used across the curriculum. Definitions are operator-fluent — they assume the reader is a sophisticated multi-unit operator or investor, per the brand voice principle from brand-guidelines/index.html. Each entry includes the module where the term is load-bearing.

A

A&M Fee — Advertising and Marketing fee charged to franchisees on an ongoing basis. Distinct from the franchisee’s Local Spend obligation. (M08)

Acknowledged Elephant — A voice-playbook rhetorical move: naming the obvious objection a sophisticated reader is already thinking, then dispatching it with a fact. Used in every “Why this matters” section of the exec curriculum. (M01–M10; brand-guidelines/index.html)

ADA — Americans with Disabilities Act. Site accessibility compliance — obstruction-free routes 24/7, post-snow and post-paving re-measurement. (M07, M09; franchisee curriculum M14)

Akerman LLP — The law firm where Kevin Hein, HiON’s outside general counsel, is co-chair of the Franchise & Licensing Sector Team. Author of the redline that governs HiON’s public-facing language. (M09, M10)

Akerman Redline — The “don’t say / say instead” table Kevin Hein produced reviewing V2 marketing copy in early 2026. Binding for all public-facing output. Full table in hion-context.md §7 and M09 §3.4. (M03, M05, M06, M09)

AHJ — Authority Having Jurisdiction. The local building, electrical, fire, or planning authority that issues permits and inspects construction. (M07; franchisee curriculum M06–M07)

Application Demonstration — The competency-assessment component of each Franchisee Training Program module — a scored scenario per module. Combined with the Knowledge Check, defines “successful completion” of the program. (M08)

Audit Posture — HiON’s framework for franchisee audits — remote, scheduled, unannounced, incident-triggered, transfer/renewal. (M08; franchisee curriculum M02)

B

Bonus Depreciation — Federal tax provision allowing accelerated depreciation of qualified property. Subject to the incentives-hedging rule — HiON does not guarantee qualification or amount. (M09)

Brand Asset Library — HiON’s repository of approved marks, photography, color, and templates for use in franchisee marketing. Governed by the brand-promise discipline. (M09; franchisee curriculum M03)

C

Canvas Program — Tesla’s program for third-party Supercharger ownership and operation. HiON is one of approximately four US participants. Joined at the earliest stage. The most-overstated relationship in HiON’s account; the compliance-safe phrasing is verbatim. (M01, M03)

Cap-Rate Effect — The asset-value translation a property owner sees when a HiON charging facility is added: $120K/yr rent at 6.5% cap → ~$1.85M; with a 4-port Supercharger added → illustrated path to ~$4.2M. Host page only per Akerman redline. (M05, M06)

CCS1 — Combined Charging System (Type 1) — the older DC fast-charging connector standard used by EVs built before NACS adoption. Magic Dock allows CCS1 vehicles to charge at Tesla Superchargers. (M03)

Collateral Assignment of Lease — Lease provision (Attachment D in HiON’s framework) that protects HiON’s interest in the leased site by allowing assignment to HiON or HiON’s designee under specified events. Often the surprise in a Site Host’s counsel’s read of the lease. (M01; franchisee curriculum M05)

Compliance Register — The franchisee’s standing log of compliance events and obligations. 1-business-day notification rule for events threatening operating ability. (M08; franchisee curriculum M14)

Coming Soon — Pre-construction visibility for HiON sites on Tesla’s in-vehicle navigation. Compliance-safe phrasing is verbatim: “Tesla approval workflow includes pre-construction visibility on Tesla’s navigation maps, subject to Tesla’s site approval and standards.” Do not say “first-in-line” or “pre-approved.” (M03, M09)

Confidential Deck — The HiON Investment Deck. NDA-only. Custody with Bill. (M06, M10)

D

DA (Development Agreement) — HiON’s structural commitment from a franchisee: 10 locations over 3 years, year-one target of 5 sites selected and under development. The DA structure is what makes the Franchise product a sophisticated-multi-unit-operator product. (M04)

Daily and Weekly Monitoring — Site operating standard: Partner Portal dashboard checked daily; Tesla app checked weekly. (M08; franchisee curriculum M10)

DBM (Designated Business Manager) — The franchise system’s mandatory operations role. Full-time-and-best-efforts obligation under the Franchise Agreement. Approved by HiON before opening. The load-bearing role in any “is this passive?” conversation. (M04, M08; franchisee curriculum M09)

Driver Experience Liaison — HiON support role focused on driver-facing escalations. Part of the HiON support cast referenced in Operations Manual §3.1.1. (franchisee curriculum M01)

E

EBITDA — Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Internal-only HiON figures: Year-3 ~$171K per site, Year-4 ~$200K per site, 40%+ margin target, ~$2M+ at 10-loc portfolio. Do not quote publicly under any circumstance — see Akerman redline. (M06)

Excuse Events — Events under the MSA that excuse the franchisee from uptime obligations when documented in real time (weather, host-side power failure, force majeure). Real-time documentation is required; after-the-fact does not protect. (M08; franchisee curriculum M10)

F

False Call-Out — Fee under the MSA charged when HiON Engineering rolls a commissioning or service team to a site that fails the pre-readiness checklist. Disciplines franchisees against premature service requests. (M07, M08; franchisee curriculum M07)

FBC (Franchise Business Consultant) — HiON’s relationship person assigned to each franchisee. First escalation step above Standard Support. Owner of monthly performance commentary, exception request review, audit-readiness coaching, lifecycle-event conversations. (M08; franchisee curriculum M02)

FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — The federally regulated and state-regulated document a franchisor delivers to a prospective franchisee before any offer or sale of a franchise. Governed by the FTC Franchise Rule (16 CFR Part 436) and state franchise laws. 23 Items. (M09)

FDD Item 11 — The FDD item covering training delivery. Defines what franchisees must do to “successfully complete the Franchisee Training Program.” Current HiON Item 11 commitment: “up to one and a half business days featuring a minimum of 12 hours of classroom training.” (M08, M09)

FDD Item 19 — The FDD item covering financial performance representations. Governs what a franchisor may represent about financial performance to a prospect. NDA does not exempt a conversation from Item 19. (M06, M09, M10)

Franchise Agreement (FA) — The binding contract between HiON and the franchisee. Term: 10 years + two 5-year renewals. (M04, M09)

FTC Franchise Rule — 16 CFR Part 436. The federal regulation governing franchise offers and sales. Establishes the pre-sale FDD-delivery requirement (14 days or first personal meeting, earliest). (M09)

G

General Contractor of Record (GC) — The party legally responsible for construction at a HiON site. Under the Franchise product, the franchisee is GC of record. OSHA recordables, contractor licensing, and workers’ comp claims sit with the franchisee. HiON is an oversight party. (M07)

Geist / Geist Mono — The two typefaces in HiON’s identity system. Geist (sans-serif) for interface and body; Geist Mono for labels, eyebrows, and data. No serif body. No display script. (M09)

Go-Live Notification — The artifact submitted by the franchisee through the Partner Portal to confirm site readiness for launch. Part of the 5-day ribbon-cutting window workflow. (M07; franchisee curriculum M08)

H

HFG Holdings, LLC — The legal entity behind HiON Franchise Group. Capital stack details: see Bill / cap table [CONFIRM]. (M01, M10)

HiON — Sentence-case capitalization, fixed. Never “HION,” never “Hi-On,” never “hion” lowercase except in domain references (hionev.com). (M09)

HiON EV Facility — A physical site with Tesla V4 Supercharger equipment, branded under the HiON system, integrated into the Tesla Supercharger network, operated under the operating split. (M01)

I

Ideal Franchisee Profile — HiON’s target franchisee: sophisticated multi-unit operators with infrastructure or commercial-real-estate experience. Reference: Steve Wazny. (M04)

Ideal Site Profile / Ideal Host Profile — Five-attribute qualifying screen: highway/arterial visibility, 4–12 stalls, walkable co-tenants, 3-phase commercial power, commercial zoning. Sites failing on two or more attributes do not enter the pipeline. (M05, M07)

Incentives — Federal, state, utility, and local incentives that may apply to HiON sites (bonus depreciation, NEVI, state grants, utility rebates, landlord TIA, LCFS credits). All third-party-administered. HiON does not guarantee qualification or amount. Always hedge. (M09)

Investment Deck — HiON-Investment Deck 4.6.26 (CONFIDENTIAL).pdf. NDA-only. Primary source for M06 internal-only economics. Custody: Bill. (M06, M10)

K

Knowledge Check — The competency-assessment component of each Franchisee Training Program module — 8–12 closed-form or short-answer questions, 80% pass threshold. Combined with the Application Demonstration, defines “successful completion.” (M08)

kWh (Kilowatt-Hour) — The unit of revenue at a fast-charging site. Royalty ($0.05/kWh) and Technology Contribution ($0.01/kWh) are billed per kWh dispensed. (M04)

L

LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) — California’s credit program for low-carbon fuels, adopted by some other states. Third-party-administered; subject to the incentives-hedging rule. (M09)

Lease Addendum — The HiON-required addendum to a franchisee’s lease with a Site Host. Incorporates the Collateral Assignment of Lease. Site Hosts who will not accept the Addendum disqualify the site. (M01; franchisee curriculum M05)

Local Spend — The franchisee’s ongoing local marketing obligation. Distinct from the A&M Fee and from the Start-Up Advertising spend. (M08; franchisee curriculum M08)

M

Magic Dock — Built-in CCS1 adapter on Tesla V4 (and select V3) Supercharger posts. Allows older-standard CCS1 vehicles to charge without a third-party adapter. Removes the standards barrier for the residual installed EV base. (M03)

Marketing Review Queue — HiON’s review surface for franchisee-generated creative. 10-business-day response. Owned by HiON Marketing. (M08; franchisee curriculum M08)

MSA (Master Services Agreement) — The agreement between HiON and the franchisee governing equipment supply, network operations, maintenance, and uptime mechanics. Source of the False Call-Out fee. Tesla-relationship-adjacent. (M07, M08, M09)

N

NACS (North American Charging Standard) — Tesla’s connector standard, opened to broader adoption and now SAE J3400. Adopted by Ford, GM/Chevrolet, Rivian, BMW, Lucid, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan (via adapter), Hyundai, and others. The de facto US standard. (M03)

NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) — The contractual cover required before HiON shares the Investment Deck, M06 internal-only economics, capital partner specifics, or HFG Holdings cap table. Does not exempt the conversation from FDD Item 19. Custody of executed NDAs: Bill. (M06, M10)

NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) — Federal formula program administered by each state DOT for EV charging buildout. Third-party-administered; subject to the incentives-hedging rule. (M09)

NOC (Network Operations Center) — HiON’s 24/7 hotline for franchisee escalations (SEV 1 and SEV 2 events). The clock starts when the ticket opens. Visual observation only — no diagnostic steps from the franchisee. (M08)

NREL — National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The US Department of Energy laboratory that estimates ~182,000 DC fast-charging ports needed by 2030. The source of HiON’s headline buildout-gap number. (M02)

O

OJT (On-the-Job Training) — The hands-on component of the Franchisee Training Program. The current rebuilt curriculum includes one OJT day at a HiON EV Facility (Site Walk practice in M04; inspection walkthrough in M10 of the franchisee program). (M08)

Operations Manual — HiON’s authoritative operations standards. Source of MANDATORY, APPROVAL REQUIRED, RECOMMENDED, LOCAL-LAW DEPENDENT, and TEMPLATE labels. Custody: Joe Lewis. (M08; franchisee curriculum M02)

Operator-Light — The Akerman-compliant descriptor for HiON’s franchise operating model. Replaces “semi-passive autonomous business” from V2 marketing. Captures the 0–1 on-site staffing standard while preserving the DBM and operational accountability requirements. (M04, M09)

P

Partner Portal — HiON’s authoritative system of record for franchisee operations. Pipeline tickets, exception requests, Compliance Register, insurance certificates, Sinking Fund statements, Site Authorization Submittals. Single-system-of-record discipline — no parallel ticketing, no third-party integrations. (M08; franchisee curriculum M02)

Payback — Internal-only HiON figure: ~3.5 years unleveraged; under 1 year at 20% leverage on a 95–121% ROI band. Do not quote publicly under any circumstance. (M06)

Pipeline (Franchisee) — The seven-stage franchisee site pipeline: Identified → Outreach → Discovery → Site Walk → Evaluation → Negotiation → Authorized. 5-business-day tracker cadence. (M07; franchisee curriculum M04)

Powderfish — Strategy call partner whose meeting transcript lives in ~/HiON Franchise Group Site v2/Meeting Transcripts/. Reference only — not for direct quoting. (M10)

R

Redline — See Akerman Redline.

Ribbon-Cutting Window — 5 calendar days post-commissioning during which the launch motion (Go-Live Notification, Tesla-app metadata verification, Start-Up Advertising, local awareness) must coordinate. Missing the window underperforms the site’s first quarter. (M07; franchisee curriculum M08)

Royalty — $0.05/kWh recurring fee paid by the franchisee to HiON on every kWh dispensed. Combined with the $0.01/kWh Technology Contribution = $0.06/kWh total recurring rate. (M04)

S

SEV 1–5 — The HiON severity model for site events. SEV 1 = site fully down or safety-impacting. SEV 5 = cosmetic / non-impacting. Correct classification governs response time; misclassification has costs in both directions. (M08; franchisee curriculum M02)

Site Authorization Submittal — The qualifying package the franchisee assembles for HiON’s approval of a site — Desktop Pre-Check, On-Site Audit, Electrical and Utility Assessment, Site Walk capture. Gates Phase 3 (utility service order). (M07; franchisee curriculum M04)

Site Design Manual — HiON’s design standards document. Integrates Tesla’s specifications. Used by the franchisee’s design and engineering teams to produce a compliant design package. (M07)

Sinking Fund — Dedicated account at federally insured depository for franchisee capital reserve. Monthly funding by the 5th, running-balance target, permitted uses only, written approval for withdrawals, quarterly statements by the 15th day post-quarter. (M08; franchisee curriculum M13)

Site Walk — On-site evaluation of a prospective site against HiON’s qualification standards. Part of the Site Authorization Submittal package. OJT subject in the franchisee curriculum. (M07; franchisee curriculum M04)

Start-Up Advertising — The franchisee’s launch-window advertising spend obligation. Does not offset ongoing Local Spend. (M08; franchisee curriculum M08)

Steve Wazny — HiON’s founding franchisee. 30+ years restaurant industry, 150+ locations across 6 brands, ~4,800 employees. First HiON site: I-25 / Orchard in Parker, CO. The Ideal Franchisee Profile reference. (M04, M10)

Surjeet Singh — Strategy call partner whose meeting transcript lives in ~/HiON Franchise Group Site v2/Meeting Transcripts/. Reference only — not for direct quoting. (M10)

T

TIA (Tenant Improvement Allowance) — Landlord contribution to tenant build-out costs. May apply at a HiON-developed site. Subject to the incentives-hedging rule. (M09)

Technology Contribution — $0.01/kWh recurring fee paid by the franchisee. Distinct from the Royalty. (M04)

U

Uptime — Operational reliability of the site. Tesla network-wide: 99.9% (publicly disclosed). HiON internal site-level target: 98%+ (internal-only — never quoted publicly). Public-safe descriptor: “designed to support high uptime; actual uptime varies by site and equipment.” (M06, M08, M09)

Utility Service Order — The franchisee’s formal request to the local utility for site interconnection. Must be opened within 15 business days of Site Authorization. Transformer backlogs of 9–18 months are common; the controlling variable for overall lifecycle calendar. (M07)

V

V4 Supercharger — Tesla’s current Supercharger generation. Peak power up to 500kW per stall. Standard for all HiON-built sites. (M03)

Variance — Zoning or regulatory exception required when a site doesn’t meet baseline conditions. Typically adds 3–6 months to the design-and-permitting phase. (M07)

Voice Playbook — HiON’s brand voice rules. Lives in ~/HiON Franchise Group Site v2/brand-guidelines/index.html. Four core principles: arithmetic, operator-fluent, historically anchored, disciplined conviction. Binding for all writing. (M09)

Change log

Version	Date	Author	Changes
v0.1	2026-05-20	Claude	Initial glossary. Operator-fluent definitions; module references per term.