IrishEVs is a consumer advice website focusing on

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

and the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The site was founded by journalist Tom Spencer, who previously wrote for

Fully Charged Fully Charged (also called ''The Fully Charged Show'') is a YouTube channel, podcast, website, and live event focusing on electric vehicles and renewable energy founded by writer, broadcaster and actor Robert Llewellyn. Llewellyn would later b ...

, and has covered a wide range of topics around the role of

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

s and

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

in the context of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

– with the transport sector accounting for 20% of Ireland's total

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

. IrishEVs has also covered a wide range of renewable energy topics, including

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

energy policy Energy policies are the government's strategies and decisions regarding the Energy production, production, Energy distribution, distribution, and World energy supply and consumption, consumption of energy within a specific jurisdiction. Energy ...

cycling infrastructure Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

just transition Just transition is a concept that emerged in the 1980s through efforts by U.S. trade unions to protect workers' rights and livelihoods as economies shift to sustainable production, primarily protecting workers affected by environmental regulati ...

environmental policy Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem ...

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

and climate anxiety. IrishEvs publishes stories on a wide range of topics that are cited by mainstream media such as ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'',

CleanTechnica ''CleanTechnica'' is a US-based online audio and video media company, that operates a website under the same name, dedicated to aggregating news in clean technology, sustainable energy, and Electric vehicle, electric vehicles, with a focus on Tes ...

, ''

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

'', ''

Jalopnik Static Media Inc., the business name of 7Hops.com Inc., is an American internet company established in 2012, incorporated in Delaware, and based in Indianapolis. It operates ZergNet, a content recommendation business that promotes paid content ...

'' and

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. The publication has also contributed to the

Oireachtas committee Committees of the Oireachtas are committees and sub-committees and select committees of Dáil Éireann and Joint Committees of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, that are small groups of Teachta Dála, TDs and Seanad Éireann, senators of the ...

on Climate Action, providing expert input on transport emissions, and led a campaign to introduce engine idling laws in Ireland.

Just climate transition

The publication has gained particular renown for promoting a

in the face of the climate crisis - both at home and abroad. In particularly, IrishEVs has repeatedly called on the Irish government to support lower income families and individuals in adopting electric vehicles. IrishEVs has highlighted the considerable cost gap between the average income and the cost of new electric cars in Ireland, and urged the Irish government to increase incentives while also doing more to import second-hand electric vehicles from the UK to meet demand for affordable EVs - the UK being the only local source of right-hand drive vehicles, and a more mature market in terms of EV adoption. As of November 2021, the average annual salary in Ireland is €49,000, while the average new battery electric vehicle costs €47,300, even after the deduction of up to €10,000 in incentives from the

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) () is an Irish governmental body established to promote and aid in the development of sustainable energy in Ireland. History The SEAI was founded as the national energy agency of Ireland under ...

. IrishEVs has led on coverage relating to

electric vehicle conversion In automobile engineering, electric vehicle conversion is the replacement of a car's combustion engine and connected components with an electric motor and batteries, to create a battery electric vehicle (BEV). There are two main aims for conver ...

as part of a just climate transition, where existing internal combustion engine vehicles can be converted to run as pure battery electric vehicles in order to reduce waste which also tackling emissions and providing a supply of affordable second-hand EVs.

Greenwashing reporting

While IrishEVs initially tackled the common myths and misconceptions around

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

s in order to educate the public about their benefits compared to

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

vehicles, the site has since gained a reputation for tackling

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or ...

in the automotive and fuel industries. The site was the first to break the

Applegreen Applegreen Limited is an Irish company founded in 1992 that operates 620 petrol stations in Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain (under the Welcome Break arm) and the United States. It is a major petrol retailer in Ireland, ...

greenwashing controversy, where the fuel brand had claimed to offset the emissions of its premium fuels, but neglected to inform the public that this did not include the emissions from extraction or refinement – which typically account for up to 40% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from petrol and diesel. Nor did Applegreen's marketing acknowledge that the trees being planted to

carbon offset Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities to compensate for offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. When an entity invests in a carbon offsetting ...

the emissions could take upwards of 30 years to capture the emissions that they claimed. IrishEVs has also been a leading voice in the Irish media about the ecological and climate harm caused by

hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. Hybrid powertrai ...

s, and how manufacturers –

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

in particular – are using greenwashing campaigns to aid their public image without lowering the emissions of their vehicles. A 2020 report found that

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

from

plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...

vehicles, on average, two-and-a-half times higher than official tests indicate, mirroring the

Volkswagen emissions scandal The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

. IrishEVs also played a key role in the reporting of the Astongate greenwashing scandal in 2020, which involved a number of well-known brands spreading misinformation about electric vehicles in the wake of the UK's declaration to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles from 2030. In February 2022, IrishEVs launched the Irish Greenwashing Awards to raise awareness of how commonplace greenwashing had become amongst corporations operating in Ireland, and amongst the Irish press itself, and to call for urgent legislation to protect Irish citizens from brands seeking to profit from the Climate Crisis.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.irishevs.com/ Irish news websites Newspaper companies of Ireland Transport websites Climate change Environmental websites