Is the Entervan XT Right for Everyone?
Posted by Jack on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009Last week, BraunAbility Vehicle Engineer Chris Wegner and I put together a video with the help of his father-in-law Tim Alexander. We were looking to show the differences between the Entervan and the new Entervan XT wheelchair vans in a “real world” setting. For those of you who missed it, here’s the short video:
After we posted this, a dealer asked me this question on AbilityVoice: “If the dimensions of the standard Entervan are so limiting, why offer both? Why not build just the XT, a van that everyone will fit in?” I have to admit it’s a great question, and the answer is really not very evident until you actually get in these two vehicles and see the difference for yourself.
In the video above, you can see how the Entervan XT wheelchair van is the right vehicle for someone who sits taller in the wheelchair. On the other side of the coin, the Entervan XT is not the best option for someone who sits shorter in their chair. I asked Burnie Blackmon to help me illustrate this, and we shot the video below yesterday afternoon. As you’ll see, it’s pretty telling evidence!
Until we shot these videos, it was hard for me to appreciate the huge difference that a mere 4″ can make! At BraunAbility, we’ve always maximized the space inside our vans, because the smallest increase in the door height, the floor width or the floor length can make all the difference in the world to our customers. And that’s the reason we offer the standard Entervan for the 80% of our customers who are best served by this conversion’s dimensions. For the 20% of customers who need the extra clearance, the Entervan XT is for you!
Which one will work best for you? The best place to find the answer to that question is at your local BraunAbility dealer. Though we try to show you all we can on this blog and our website – and we hope you can get a pretty good idea from this information – there is still no substitute for getting into a handicap van and “kicking the tires” a bit. For those of you who have had a chance to try out the new Entervan XT, we’d love to hear what you think!
Tags: Wheelchair Vans
December 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Jim or Chris, after viewing your videos, I’m really impressed with the XT. I’d like to know what heights work best in the Entervan vs. the XT? In your specs I see that the Entervan has a door opening of 52.5″. So would you generally recommend that anyone with a height of say, 51-52″ or more go to the XT? What heights should be using the original Entervan?
Thanks, Bryce
December 18th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Hello Bryce;
Door opening height is obviously a very valid concern, but probably just as important is whether you have the ability to bend over as you enter the vehicle. If it is difficult or impossible to duck down as you go through the door, I think I would go with the XT if I was over about 50 or 51â€. That should give you a little extra room if you sometimes wear a cap or hat. Additionally, you can never tell when you might need to change cushion or wheelchair and end up too high. If your wheelchair has a power vertical seat adjustment you would want the seat at the lowest comfortable height when you take the measurement.
There is also one additional concern. If you often transport other wheelchair users, or expect that you might in the future, the added door opening height of the XT might come in handy. In fact, that is really how the XT came into being. Transit agencies, obviously, transport many different wheelchair users so they are required to accommodate users up to 56†high.
Hope this has been helpful. If not please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Burnie