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Probably discuss the hoist options with the Motability sales person when you go to look at the car and book a test drive.
Hi has anyone had a hoist fitted into a EV / Hybrid?
Looking at a Leapmotor C10 or Geely Starray.
Many ThanksIt depends on what hoist you need. Not all hoists will work with the car you want. For example if you have something like a Quickie q100r powerchair but have a few addons that can easily go over 100kg so you’d be looking at a 120kg – 150kg hoist, those wont fit in the majority of cars. Equally the boot opening of the car matters too. As Kezo says you need to speak to a manufacturer, the Apex Assist hoists by Jeff Gosling are quite compact so its worth contacting them to see what they say.
Hi Thanks for the answers.
I understand whats being said the reason I ask is that the adapter I’ve used for years that when I ask what hoist(50kg) can be fitted to a EV I only get one answer Skoda Enyaq, now I don’t know if the Enyaq is only EV that can be fitted to a EV or that my installer recommends the Enyaq because its a simple install etc.
I intend to speak to Goslings etc (unfortunately they don’t or couldn’t find a list of vehicles that hoists fit into).
I don’t get that much free time with work etc, so am hoping to look this weekend and its not always possible to speak to a dealership mutability expert and so tend to be speaking non Motability sales people who experience of the scheme and knowledge varies.
I am going to look today so was just wanting to find out what hoists people with EV have fitted with any as it would save time.
Cheers all
Even if I said this hoist can be attached to this car it doesn’t take into account the 3rd piece of equipment – the wheelchair (or scooter), which has to fit into the car and be capable of being lifted by the hoist.
The centre of gravity of the wheelchair, in relation to the lifting point matters as well as where the hoist attachment points have to be bolted onto the wheelchair, and that could mean that a chair that physically would fit, is off centre too much and won’t actually swing in.
The only people that can answer that are adaption installers. However it’s worth pointing out that not all items on the Motability Managed adaptions list are supplied by every adaptions company that Motability use.
The best advice I can offer is to send an adaptions company a short list of cars that work for your household circumstances (and you think should have enough cargo space), and your wheelchair/scooter specifications. If none from your short list work, then ask is there any car on the scheme that could work.
All I would say is do all this before contacting the car dealers. Yes they technically place the application but they defer everything on this matter to the adaption installer anyway.
I’m having a 150kg Jeff Gosling fitted to an Enyaq. But it’s not been fitted yet.
Availability of robust fixing points in boot is important, as well a strength of boot floor for heavy mob device, as is boot opening height in particular
JG website
“The height of the mobility device must be significantly less (approximately 100mm) than the height of the boot opening to allow room for the jib arm of the hoist. The boot measurement is taken at the height of the boot opening at its lowest point.”
To give you some idea of why it’s not an easy question to answer, see the attached picture
All of the arrows show measurements that have to be taken into consideration, and there are also other safety clearances on top of them. There is also the issue that EV 12v systems are often based on lower ampage batteries, as they don’t need to turn an engine, and so sometimes don’t have enough oompf to be ‘safely used’ with a hoist.
DJ Wheels – Yes! I never realised until the other day that although EV has huge lithium battery they use small 12v lead acid batteries to power the ancillaries when the car. The reason why apparently is that they can use existing off the shelf 12v car components rather than specialist components design to work with EV voltages.
If the hoist actuators were rated to 24v dc you could actually power the hoist from the 24v mob device by plugging in a flying lead to mob device charge point.
I understand whats being said the reason I ask is that the adapter I’ve used for years that when I ask what hoist(50kg)
Just to confirm 50kg or 150kg?
Hoists will fit in most vehicles, even an old Micra or new Moka can be fitted with a hoist however, it takes the adaptions company time to get a new car into the workshop and come up with a suitable base plate and a hoist that fits, so if a car isn’t on their list yet, it doesn’t mean one can’t be fitted, rather they having got round to getting hold of a particular car yet. An example of this is the Kia EV5, which lauched in 2025, but didn’t get a hoist (upto 150kg Apex Assist) confirmed till end of March this year.
Autochair Smart Lifter LM 40/80kg hoist will fit many small cars, mch smaller than the Starray for example.
For a number of safety reasons the traction battery only engages when the car is about to be driven (or is being charged). So the 12v battery handles everything up to the point where you ‘turn the key’. Hoists have considerable drain on that battery and this does limit what hoists can be installed in an EV, even on cars that have been designed to take ICE or EV traction systems.
To help with that Autochair at least now offers a battery pack to power their hoists that keeps the hoist off the 12V system completely. By completely I mean you have to take it off and charge it off a 240v supply.
Up until Q4 2005 it was offered as a separate accessory in the Motability managed list of adaptations, but now it’s only on hoists up to 80kg as part of a bundle. I think it’s still an option for Autochair’s 100, 150 and 200kg hoists but Motabilty won’t fund it, so that has to be a customer managed solution, assuming you can get Mobility’s permission.
If the hoist actuators were rated to 24v dc you could actually power the hoist from the 24v mob device by plugging in a flying lead to mob device charge point.
Not all mobility devices that need to be hoisted are powered (self propel wheelchairs etc) , and not all that are powered run on 24v.
I’m not sure I’d personally want to sacrifice wheelchair range, especially as I’ve never seen an in-car wheelchair battery charger offered.
No experience of fitting hoists to EV’s, only ICE and currently Hybrid but I’ve noticed over the years that adaption installers prefer the Autochair hoist over others and thought at first this was all about commission but now I assume its because, as kezo mentioned, they fit more cars.
The Installer my local dealers use recommended the Jeff Gosling Apex Assist 150kg hoist because he said it had more reliable actuators than the Autochair? But I wonder whether he said that because of commission? I had an Olympian 100kg and it was fine.
If the hoist actuators were rated to 24v dc you could actually power the hoist from the 24v mob device by plugging in a flying lead to mob device charge point.
Not all mobility devices that need to be hoisted are powered (wheelchairs etc) are powered, and not all run on 24v, and I’m not sure I’d personally want to sacrifice wheelchair range, especially as I’ve never seen an in-car wheelchair battery charger offered
Assuming the charge port on the mob device was bidirectional.
You can buy a 12v to 24v 1.5A or 24v to 12v battery charger to charge wheelchair/scooter in the car. Several EV’s have built in inverters with a 230v socket.
One such device.
A video everyone who needs a hoist has been waiting for! Be good to see similar videos for other models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VidpoW6Oc6Y
The Installer my local dealers use recommended the Jeff Gosling Apex Assist 150kg hoist because he said it had more reliable actuators than the Autochair? But I wonder whether he said that because of commission? I had an Olympian 100kg and it was fine.
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that.
Autochair took Gossling to court over patent infringement over their Apex Assist, having specific design features similar to Autochair, but the judge overruled. Not sure if Autochair is taking it further though.
Kezo – Do you know when the EV5 first appeared on the MB website? I don’t remember seeing it when I was looking in the autumn of last year?
Kezo – Do you know when the EV5 first appeared on the MB website? I don’t remember seeing it when I was looking in the autumn of last year?
Q1 2026
What was the AP on the base model in Q1? I’m guessing it’s gone up now in Q2.
Air £3995/£3999?, only model available.
Hi Thanks for the answers.
I understand whats being said the reason I ask is that the adapter I’ve used for years that when I ask what hoist(50kg) can be fitted to a EV I only get one answer Skoda En…These are the ones I know. But it will matter on your device, if its 150kg you’ll be more limited. 50kg you’ll be looking at a 60kg hoist which i imagine will fit in the cars youve mentioned but the issue is the device you’re lifting you need to know how compatible itll be.
The ev5 and Enyaq can support a 150 kg hoist.
Both ev3 and Kona can support a 100kg hoist.
A 80kg hoist can be fitted to an ID.4, Ioniq 5 and Ariya.
In the MB adaptions price list is the hoist transfer kit the frame that bolts into the boot and the hoist hooks onto?
Also out of curiosity has anyone got or ever seen the rooftop wheelchair stowage system in the real world? I saw one at the assessment centre QEF in Carlshalton but I’ve never seen one apart from there.
In the MB adaptions price list is the hoist transfer kit the frame that bolts into the boot and the hoist hooks onto?
Also out of curiosity has anyone got or ever seen the rooftop wheelchair stowage s…The rooftop wheelchair stowage ones arent really worth the money i feel, they can’t handle much weight and ive heard from a few people they often break.
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