Budding engineers from schools in Sussex assemble at Goodwood with electric cars that they've designed for a gruelling six-hour endurance race

This programme from 1999 showcases a variety of electric cars, all designed and built by pre-GCSE pupils from schools across Sussex, competing in a six-hour endurance marathon at Goodwood. The culmination of a project organised by Sussex Enterprise and the University of Brighton, formerly known as Brighton Polytechnic, the race tests the designs produced by the girls and boys, with a little help and advice from their teachers. Each of the teams were only allowed to use the same basic power units - two 12 volt batteries, a single 24 volt motor and a controller. We see a wide variety of designs arrive at the event before the race starts, in 'Le Mans 24 hour' style, with all the drivers dashing to their cars to make fast getaways. Despite a few crashes, pit-stops to change batteries and the naughty driver from Roedean going into the 'Sin-Bin' for dangerous driving, the race ends after six hours with almost all the cars having completed the test. Donald Wales, the grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, endorses the event calling it a 'wonderful opportunity' for the children to engage with the technology of electric cars. The programme concludes with the children reflecting on how their designs performed in the race and posing with their teams for publicity photos.