Our Future Moves exhibition showcases the region's dazzling pioneering transport present and future

The Coventry & Warwickshire region's proud place at the forefront of transport history is celebrated by a a new exhibition, Our Future Moves. Warwickshire County County's Inward Investment Manager (Automotive, Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing Lead) Ian Flynn explains.

Leading transport technology businesses from across Coventry & Warwickshire have come together to create an exciting new exhibition called ‘Our Future Moves,’ taking place as part of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture.

Our Future Moves will run from 17th July 2021 through to the summer of 2022 with a series of events taking place over the 12-month period. Coventry Transport Museum launched the start of this year-long showcase with this brand new exhibition. It features a diverse range of exhibits that highlight the region’s pioneering work in transport innovation – from autonomous vehicles to battery technology to one person submarines.

What better place to demonstrate our ability to innovate – past, present and future - than in the home of the cycle industry and birthplace of the jet engine and the motor car in the UK?

Curated by Culture Coventry, the interactive and ambitious exhibition tells the stories of the objects on display by envisioning how the future may look and exploring how pioneering developments in transport and technology could affect the environment and the way we live. It also explores and celebrates the range of people working in the industry, through video content and a STEM wall, with photos and bios. The skills showcase includes video footage co-created by Warwickshire Skills Hub.

The work of students studying at local universities and their vision of future transport is also on show.

Over 50 local businesses, large and small, submitted physical or digital content for the event. These include familiar companies like Jaguar Land Rover, who have provided a lightweight aluminium structure from the i-Pace all electric SUV, Geely London EV Company, who provided a electric hybrid van assembled at their plant at Ansty Technology Park, and Pashley Cycles, who provided both a last mile delivery tricycle and a bicycle from the West Midlands cycle sharing scheme.

The showcase also includes companies less well known to the public, and their products and services. Arrowsmith Engineering, an Exhall business making high-precision components for the aero industry, provided examples of their finished products; Ricardo, an automotive engineering and specialist company based in Radford Semele, near Leamington Spa, provided models of advanced transmission systems and prototype battery cells; GE Power Conversion from Rugby provided a miniaturised model of their giant, ultra-quiet electrical propulsion motor, used in the most advanced ships in the world.

Meanwhile in rail, the very light rail technology developed by TDI International and WMG for the Coventry VLR, is joined by the battery and hybrid trains developed by Vivarail and the hydrogen powered Hydroflex developed by Porterbrook and the University of Birmingham, and a hydrogen powered car developed by Coventry University spin-out company Minicab.

The companies also included a couple of new arrivals supported into the local area by Invest Coventry & Warwickshire, the inward investment service for the sub-region. Triggo is a personal mobility solution from Poland, featuring a unique adjustable axle system to aid access in cities for individuals and the emergency services. The company recently set up at MIRA Technology Park near Nuneaton.

Kivnon is a Spanish manufacturer of autonomous vehicles used to help automation in manufacturing, and they recently set up with support near Coventry airport, and they will be supplying local auto manufacturers.

The strategic partners delivering the ambitious and inspiring Our Future Moves programme include Coventry City Council, CV Life, Culture Coventry, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Coventry City of Culture Trust, Coventry University, MotoFest , Transport for West Midlands, Warwickshire County Council and WMG at the University of Warwick.

Paul Breed, CEO of CV Life and Culture Coventry, said: “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to celebrate Coventry, Warwickshire’s and the West Midlands past , present and future as a pioneer and innovator in transport - at a time when the eyes of the world will be on the city as UK City of Culture, and when the Commonwealth Games comes to the region very soon after.

“Our Future Moves will see a year of activities, beginning with a must-see exhibition at the Coventry Transport Museum which looks at how Coventry and the wider region has become the centre of innovation for future transport, from very light rail through to the world’s first Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) Urban Air Port®.”

The physical exhibition ‘Our Future Moves’ running until the end of October, will be joined later by an online version running to the end of the City of Culture year in May 2022.

A preview event for ‘Our Future Moves’ in July coincided with the official opening of the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), opened by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and a major UK and global centre for the development and commercialisation of battery technology, and the submission of the planning application for a new battery Gigafactory at Coventry Airport. Both sites on the edge of Coventry sit within Warwick District. https://www.transport-museum.com/events/1491/our_future_moves