Arsenal have entered a global electric vehicle partnership with BYD in the last week, making them the first Premier League club to do so.
Chris Wheatley reported the news on Twitter, before one eagle-eyed Arsenal fan pointed out that the branding was already present on the bench during the last home game on Sunday:
From last match pic.twitter.com/ogAZwhENdP
— habib07 #MerciArsène (@habib072) April 24, 2018
BYD are a Chinese manufacturer of cars, buses, trucks and more. As well as branding on the bench, we can therefore expect the players to travel in BYD coaches in future.
A partnership with an electric vehicle company is also another step forward for the club in terms of their sustainability initiatives. Arsenal became the first Premier League club to use 100% renewable energy at all three of their sites (Emirates Stadium, London Colney training ground, Hale End Academy) after partnering with Octopus Energy.
According to Fournisseur-Energie.com in October 2017, the Emirates relies on solar panels and recycling for its energy. At the time of the report, they’d apparently saved 2.32 million kilograms of CO2 from being produced.
Combine that with the new electric vehicle partnership and Arsenal are really cutting back on their carbon footprint. Plus, new commercials deals mean more money for the club to spend this summer. Good news all round.