Shropshire Star

Electric car ports power Telford pioneer Parveen into Forbes' list

A young Shropshire businesswoman who developed a solar-powered car port for electric cars has been hailed as one of Europe's most influential movers and shakers in the manufacturing sector.

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Parveen Begum has been named as one of Europe's 30 top young manufacturing entrepreneurs

Parveen Begum, 28, has been included in the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 (Europe) list for manufacturing and industry.

The list, compiled by the world renowned business magazine Forbes, ranked Miss Begum as one of Europe's 30 most influential industrial entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

Miss Begum co-founded her company Solisco four years ago with business partner Mark Maurice, after spending two years learning the trade at automotive giant Tesla UK. where she was in charge of marketing electric vehicles.

Parveen Begum's car ports are also suitable for use at retail parks and supermarkets

The company, based at at the E-Innovation Business and Technology Centre in Telford, produces car ports with solar panels on the roof which can be used to charge electric cars.

It produces both smaller car ports suitable for domestic use, and larger ones suitable for supermarket car parks, retail parks or universities.

Miss Begum said she was delighted to have been recognised by Forbes, saying that inclusion not only represented the achievement of a long-term career goal, but would also increase awareness of her work and encourage other businesses to pursue a green agenda.

She said one of the common reasons people are reluctant to drive electric cars is that they worried about where they would charge them, and whether the charging technology was reliable.

"We wanted to introduce confidence within users to invest in an electric vehicle, and at the same time, we wanted to inspire change within the industry so that charging can be a subject of careful consultancy and planning," she said.

Parveen Begum with business partner Mark Maurice, and one of their solar-powered car ports

"Our mission is to significantly contribute to the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in a cleverly engineered way."

"Although electric vehicles significantly reduce emissions, they still require power from the grid to work, which over time will become stretched.

"Solisco has worked with leading manufacturers and suppliers to develop a sophisticated electric-vehicle port to overcome this, harnessing the power of the sun and utilising battery storage and smart-charging functionality so that everyone can enjoy the true freedom of driving an electric vehicle without any compromises.”

Miss Begum added that her business was based just a couple of miles from Thomas Parker, the inventor of the electric car in 1884.