There is no doubt about the huge interest and curiosity about electric vehicles. Australia is finally catching up to the rest of the world, and there are signs everywhere that the growth will snowball, if we can get enough supply.
This is reflected in so much data. The deliveries of EVs, the increase in models, the falling prices (in some cases), the increased policy initiatives, the roll-out of EV chargers, and the shift from corporate Australia.
And in readership too: The Driven in February posted new records for readership. It posted 2.05 million page views for the month, a record average of more than 73,000 page views a day, and had more than one million unique visitors for the month.
That makes The Driven the best read EV-focused website in Australia by some distance, and means it is starting to challenge some of the better known homes of fossil car writers.
What makes The Driven so attractive to readers? It is a mix of breaking news, analysis, new model releases, informed discussion about the technology itself, travel stories and adventures from our readers, and a deep commitment to covering the EV transition, a phenomenon that is going to up-end two trillion dollar industries.
Our top stories for the month?
A preview of what could be Tesla’s history-making Investor Day:
A critique about bad etiquette at EV charging stations:
Tech chaos, at least on the internet, with Hyundai’s latest Ioniq drop;
The introduction of hefty parking fines for ICEing EV chargers;
The problems facing Toyota and how it missed the EV transition.Â
And a detailed analysis comparing the real costs of EVs and fossil cars.
Some of the incumbents are not happy. But we don’t care. We are independent and not beholden to industry, and we think it’s high time that some of them got their act together and tried to accelerate the transition, not try to slow it down.
That’s why The Driven team – including lead reporter Daniel Bleakley, EV expert Bryce Gaton, and data nerd and EV enthusiast Riz Akhtar, and the resources of sister site RenewEconomy – will remain fearless and independent observers and critics of the industry and policy makers.
We will also meet the desire for basic information for a community fascinated, intrigued, and in many cases just a little dubious, about the switch from petrol and diesel to fully electric.
It’s too important not to. We hope you stay with us for the ride.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.