Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles with labour saving devices

When you are driving a vehicle with a wheelchair passenger on-board it can require a degree of multi-tasking to get the wheelchair user on board and exited at the start and end of each journey.

While it’s not a huge issue and something you quickly become acustomed to, the boarding and exiting process can be made a little easier, and some vehicles come with plenty of helpful labour saving devices to make it just a little bit simpler.

WAVs with a power ramps

One of the most obvious labour saving aids is a power ramp for the wheelchair user.
At the touch of a button the wheelchair ramp can be lowered into position and raised again once the wheelchair passenger is on board. Not having to park the wheelchir up while you lower the ramp can be a huge benefit to some people.
WAVs with power ramp

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_di8fe6FHw” title=”Caddy Maxi with Power Ramp” description=”Wheelchair accessible car with power ramp” upload_date=”2021-12-17″ thumbnail=”https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/n_di8fe6FHw/maxresdefault.jpg” name=”Caddy Maxi with Power Ramp” /]

Wheelchair vehicles with a power tailgate

Quite often the WAVs with power ramps also come with a power tailgate, but there are a few models which come with a standalone power tailgate. The tailgate is usually opened and closed via a button on the keyfob. A power tailgate can be useful for accessing the ramp and having the tailgate ready open as you approach.

Wheelchair vehicles with power doors

The vast majority of wheelchair accessible vehicles have sliding doors on each side of the vehicle and a few specific models upgrade these rear doors to be powered. While this doesn’t necessarily help with the boarding of a wheelchair passenger it can be extremely useful for those with families who can open and close the doors as required via the keyfob or controls on the dashboard.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUsOSKQiPLA” title=”Kia Sedona Power Doors and Power Tailgate” description=”Wheelchair accessible car with power ramp” upload_date=”2020-09-17″ thumbnail=”https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/PUsOSKQiPLA/maxresdefault.jpg” name=”Kia Sedona Power Doors and Power Tailgate” /]

Wheelchair vehicles with a power winch

One of the most popular labour saving devices is a winch. These are remote control devices which attach to the wheelchair to assist the boarding an exiting of the wheelchair passenger. If you are struggling or think you may struggle to push the wheelchair safely up the ramp then a power winch may be worth considering. Winches are easy to use, you simply attach the winch to the wheelchair frame and press the in/out button and the winch will carefully pull the wheelchair into the vehicle (or the reverse if exiting).

Winches can be fitted to most rear passenger wheelchair accessible vehicles for an additional cost, and a selection of vehicles are supplied with them.

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/H1190qeaEiY?t=57″ title=”Power winch demonstration” description=”Wheelchair accessible car with power winch” upload_date=”2023-05-18″ thumbnail=”https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/H1190qeaEiY/maxresdefault.jpg” name=”Power winch demonstration” /]

Whatever you’re looking for and how ever you need your wheelchair accessible vehicle to work there is usually an option to make it work in a way that works best for your needs.

Get in touch with us at WavsGB for help choosing your next wheelchair accessible vehicle.