We’ve upgraded our popular outdoor go karts to sustainable, electric models as part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability.

We’ve invested £160,000 – which was funded through the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund Phase 3 (ERF3) – on 18 new, electric-powered karts for our family-friendly Follystone racetrack. The electric go karts were designed and built by Rhyl-based family business, Formula K.

Formula K is a leading go kart manufacturer, supplying leisure attractions all over the world. We’re the first family attraction in Wales to introduce all-electric go karts.

The order, which was placed during the height of the pandemic, helped Formula K to bring back staff who had been furloughed since the shutdown of the tourism and leisure market.

[Pullout] “Our go karts here at Folly Farm have always been our most popular attraction, aside from the animals of course.

“Replacing our petrol go karts with electric ones was an easy decision. The cars run on batteries which are charged using solar power. Solar panels on our fairground rooves already power many of the attractions on site as part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability.

“The new greener go karts will reduce our carbon emissions as we are no longer using petrol and what’s more, they’re much quieter than the old models which is an added bonus.

“We were pleased to work hand in hand with another Welsh business, Formula K, who have made the upgrade a smooth and easy process for us, delivering our order during challenging times. We’re excited to offer our visitors the chance to race in the new cars this Summer.”  – Royston Badham, operations manager at Folly Farm [/Pullout]

[Pullout] “Folly Farm has been a long-standing customer of ours for around 20 years. We installed the original track and we’ve enjoyed joining them on their journey in helping them upgrade to a newer, more sustainable attraction.” – Dan Liddle, managing director of Formula K [/Pullout]

The electric go karts are the latest step in our commitment to sustainability. Since 2016, we’ve held the Green Key award, an internationally recognised standard for environmental responsibility across the tourism industry. In 2017, we invested £700,000 in biomass heating, saving 700 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Our new go karts were funded by the third phase of Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund Phase 3, which was a £300m support package to help businesses rebuild and recover from the effects of the pandemic and protect Welsh jobs.

[Pullout] “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to provide this support for Folly Farm which, in line with the aim of the third phase of our Economic Resilience Fund, has helped the attraction to prepare for a strong post-covid future.  This Government is committed to delivering a stronger, greener and fairer Wales and it is excellent news that Folly Farm has been able to use this funding to develop a greener way of operating a popular attraction –while working with another Welsh business to deliver this solution.” – Minister for the Economy, Vaughan Gething [/Pullout]