[jonny]

They sent me a picture of a folding powerchair and a 40kg hoist in a VW ID3, and seemed very confident about other vehicles I suggested (ID4, Enyaq, Ioniq 5). They were very friendly and I’m hoping to visit them in the next few weeks to see what the possibilities could be.

[jonny]

Hi Ron,

Try contacting https://www.desgoslingmobilityltd.co.uk/ – I’ve been looking for an electric solution, and when I spoke to them a couple of weeks ago they suggested a lot more options than other companies I’ve spoken to.

[jonny]

Thanks everyone. Sorry for not responding for a while, I’ve been a bit cautious about COVID recently (and busy working from home), so haven’t got round to looking at cars yet.

I spoke to my local adaptations company a couple of days ago, and they confirmed the only electric cars they knew they could do were:

• Hyundai Kona
• Kia e-Niro
• MG ZS
• Citroen e-Berlingo
• Peugeot e-Rifter
• Vauxhall Combo Life

They also recommended that due to height considerations of fitting the hoist bar to the chair, only the e-Berlingo, e-Rifter or Combo would be able to fit a big wheelchair (such as a TGA Whill).

Today I went for my first test drive – an e-Berling0 – I really liked it. I’m hoping to see the Combo soon, but I think the e-Berlingo is a good option at the moment.

Thanks Mike for the idea about the Elev8 – I’ll try to find out if there’s one I can find to experiment with.

Thanks,

Jonny

[jonny]

Thanks everyone, there’s some nice ideas there.

My current scooter is a Liberty Vogue – when disassembled the heaviest part is 14.5kg, but it’s still too heavy for me to lift myself (particularly at the end of a long day).

Seeing a hoist in a Kona EV is very exciting, thanks Just2Fish. What make of hoist is it?

[jonny]

Thank you very much everyone.

Garry – thank you – the Flyte and the Illusion both look great solutions. I particularly like the look of the Flyte, and I’ve just requested a demo. Thanks Huffpuffin – I’ll have to be careful with that! When you tried it in the estate, did you still need to fold back seats down?

[jonny]

Thanks both – I don’t mind taking the seat off (or even dismantling into smaller pieces, putting the lighter things in myself and leaving the heavier parts to the hoist).

I’ve seen videos that suggest a hoist could be fitted to something as small as a Nissan Micra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS_8wG__FBY or a Golf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f4Kg6XBCZs  – this setup in a Golf would be fine for my purposes. In terms of space, I assume that if it can be fitted into a Golf, there would be space in an ID3. I’d prefer an ID4 to allow a bit more storage (and to make it easier to fit it in). But, as I understand from the adaptations company, it seems that the issue might mainly be that the hoists haven’t been safety tested in the electric cars I enquired about.

As a side issue, if I did lease through a non-Motability scheme, does anyone know if the lease company would be upset if I added a hoist (would it damage the car?). I’m not sure whether a hoist fitting/removal would be within as “Fair Wear and Tear”?! (Maybe this question is for a separate thread – I asked one leasing company representative and they hadn’t encountered that question before!)

Thanks,

Jonny

[Author]

Replies