Hosted by the CV Show in association with the Manufacturing Institute, the Make It Challenge sees children split into teams of four, each of which will be a company. After touring the show, each ‘company’ will design a new truck or van – with this year’s challenge focusing on safety.
Each day, the teams will pitch their fully costed ideas to a panel of ‘Dragons’. “Local schools are queuing up to make sure their students get a place,” says Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association. “It’s educational, it’s interesting and it’s fun.”
The challenge also to portray the sector as having exciting career possibilities, adds Burnett. “The road transport industry is crucial to our economy and it is essential that we attract bright young people to work in the sector – and what better way of highlighting the diverse career opportunities available than the CV Show.
“When it comes to a shop window for an industry that’s exciting, innovative, and filled with opportunity, it has it all.”
As well as the truck and bus designs unveiled by the schoolkids, there are other vehicles making real-world debuts.
Lancashire-based coachbuilder Mellor Coachcraft will be showcasing the Orion E, said to be the world’s first fully low floor electric bus.
Two years in development, the Orion E has single step entry and a flat, low-floor saloon with flexible seating and space for up to four wheelchairs. Passenger access is through either a rapid sliding side entry door, or double doors at the rear.
The layout is made possible by an electric front-wheel-drive system, so no prop-shaft or rear differential intrudes into the passenger area.
The first example will be displayed on the Eberspächer stand and Mellor expects to deliver the first vehicles by the end of this year.
The CV Show is free to attend: for more information or to register, click the link below.