Ford goes electric in the Cologne Carnival

Since 1951, Ford has been equipping the Cologne Carnival Committee with vehicles that transport sweets and other items for carnival societies during the Rosenmontag parade. However, this year the carnival parade must again be canceled. Nevertheless, the committee still has a few official appointments to attend.

Ford is providing a total of twelve vehicles for this. The carnival triad of Prince Sven I. (Sven Oleff), Farmer Gereon (Gereon Glasemacher), and Virgin Gerdemie (Dr. Björn Braun) received the keys to three Ford Kuga Plug-in Hybrids (PHEV) from the manufacturer in front of the Carnival Museum in Cologne-Braunsfeld. Since most carnival events were canceled due to corona measures in 2021, the three are exceptionally allowed to continue their mission for another year.

According to the manufacturer, the Kuga PHEV can travel approximately 60 kilometers purely on electric power with a single battery charge. Christoph Kuckelkorn, the president of the committee, is even driving fully electric in a new Ford Mustang Mach-E—with all-wheel drive, an 88-kWh battery, and an electric range of 540 kilometers, according to Ford.

He can charge the purely electric company car at a wallbox installed at the Carnival Museum's vehicle hall by RheinEnergie AG, another partner of the committee. Only climate-friendly green electricity from RheinEnergie flows through it, according to the press release.

"Of course, we very much regret that the regular Rosenmontag parade is again canceled," says Hans Jörg Klein, deputy chairman of the management board at Ford Werke. He also finds it a pity for the approximately 70 Ford employees who had been looking forward to their voluntary service as baggage wagon drivers and helpers along the route. But in tough times, we stick together:

"Together, we move forward into the future—literally driving—and continuously advance the electrification of the carnival vehicle fleet. And in the next session, we will certainly ensure that the 'Zoch kütt' again," Klein sounds optimistic.

According to committee president Christoph Kuckelkorn, most meetings are canceled, but the session is not completely lost.

"As last year, the large and small triad focuses on social appointments throughout the city: vaccination centers, senior homes, schools, homeless shelters, and much more. This is also made possible by the constant support from our partner Ford," says Kuckelkorn. "And we are even more pleased to be increasingly eco-friendly with the switch to electrified drives."