Ford confirmed as electric vehicle supplier of RideLondon

London Marathon Events, organisers of RideLondon, have named Ford as its title partner of RideLondon for the next three years.

The new title sponsorship builds on the success of Ford’s role as presenting partner of RideLondon in 2022, and the sponsorship highlights Ford’s commitment to encouraging car users to choose active travel for shorter journeys and its roll-out of electric vehicles and net zero targets.

Ford is targeting carbon neutrality in Europe by 2035, including all of its vehicles, production facilities and supporting logistics. It also plans an ambitious roll-out of new all-electric vehicles for which sales in Europe are expected to hit 600,000 by 2026

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of London Marathon Events, said: “This is a landmark day in the history of RideLondon as Ford becomes the title partner of the world’s greatest festival of cycling. We worked closely with Ford last year to amplify their work in promoting active travel and Ford’s innovative “Park The Car” initiative which encourages car users to cycle or walk rather than drive short journeys. We look forward to building on our very successful partnership to build active travel into everyday life.”

Tim Slatter, Chair, Ford of Britain, said: “Driving responsibly used to be a straightforward message about sensible road use, but in today’s world it means far more. Taking care of the environment is a shared responsibility and swapping just one car journey a day for active travel can reduce a person’s daily carbon footprint by up to 84%.

Lisa Brankin, Managing Director, Ford of Britain and Ireland, said: “Partnering with RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling, is a clear way for us to connect with a wider audience and share the countless benefits of cycling and walking.  It’s also a fantastic opportunity for us further support both our ‘Park The Car’ initiative, promoting smart choices around which mode of transport to use , especially for short distances, and also raise awareness of Ford zero-emission vehicles.”

London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: “We need to reduce the number of car journeys taking place by supporting people to switch to active travel options like walking and cycling, and the car journeys that do happen need to be cleaner. This way we can not only tackle the challenges of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion but also help to build a safer, greener and healthier London for everyone.

“RideLondon is a brilliant event which will inspire people to take advantage of an environmentally-friendly, cost-effective and fun way of getting around. With Ford’s support we can now continue to deliver this world class event and encourage even more people to cycle around our city.”