Al-Karim Versi (A-Kar)

My name is Al-Karim Versi, founder of the A-Kar electric vehicle.

I have always had a strong passion for starting my own business and wanted to couple that with providing a solution to help tackle climate change.

I strongly believe that green vehicles are the wave of the future because they are changing the way that consumers contribute to the sustainability of the environment.  As more cars go green, society will be able to maintain a healthy quality of life that will have a positive impact on future generations.

The A-Kar is a 3 wheeled vehicle made out of fiberglass. The motor is powered electrically by lithium ion battery cells and does not emit any harmful gases into the environment.

The A-Kar has been designed for uses as either a delivery vehicle or passenger carrier.

The top speed is 35mph and a full charge of 5 hours will give you 70 miles.

I studied for a degree in Business Computing Systems then spent 3 years working for Investment Banks such as Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley (New York) and Bank of America.

However during this time I still craved the feeling of being able to start something on my own.

By 2006 I was travelling across India and China carrying a set of vehicle designs with me in order to find a factory to partner with. In the end I settled with a company not far from Shanghai, China, and moved briefly to Hong Kong.

It was very exciting to travel to many cities and experience new ways and customs of doing business.

However I found that many timescales were pushed back with one hurdle or another to face. While this seemed frustrating at the time it was equally rewarding when they were successfully over come.

There is a high learning curve when venturing out on your own and things can sometimes become quite daunting but never let this stop you from concentrating to achieve your aims.

Some of my day to day tasks so far include, liaising with the factory to ensure that the vehicle is built to UK vehicle safety requirements, ensuring that any deigns or concepts are registered and trademarked and pushing out for full UK production.

At the moment the first working vehicle is in the UK and I am now building 14 more in the UK and want to have them running on the streets of London before full production roll out across the cities in the UK.