The Entervan XT Wheelchair Van - Taking Accessibility to New Heights
Posted by Chris on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Click to Enlarge
As a member of the engineering team that’s been working on BraunAbility’s newest wheelchair van, I’m excited to introduce the Entervan XT! With over 56” of sliding door clearance and a lower, more wheelchair-friendly ramp angle, this van is a great choice for customers who sit higher in their wheelchairs.
My father-in-law, Tim, is one of those customers. We surprised him at home yesterday morning with a standard Entervan, an Entervan XT and a video camera and asked if he’d help us demonstrate how easy it is to get in and out of the van with the extra door height, as well as the greater visibility it offers.
The video below is a real-life look at the Entervan XT and the benefits it will offer to taller customers. I’d like to thank my father-in-law for his cooperation and for being a great sport! I owe him one, and I’m sure he won’t let me forget it!
Tags: Wheelchair Vans
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:16 am
AWESOME! Great work Chris!
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am
What has changed in your process to get additional head room both through the door and inside.
Entervan II is a 10 inch drop, what is XT drop?
Bigger chairs & clients are usually wider, why not expand width of ramp also?
What is ground clearence of XT?
When will spec sheet be available? Is there any difference in weight capacity?
When will brochures be available?
When will price info be available?
When will you begin taking orders?
Is there really a need for both? It seems that XT will do both jobs while EV II is restrictive.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Hi Bud,
Thanks for posting your questions. Chris is on vacation this week, but I can answer some and he can add to my responses next week.
On the XT, we raise the chassis in order to lower the floor further. This results in the 4 addition inches through the door and the increased head clearance inside the vehicle.
Expanding the width of the ramp: we modify the OEM door operator to open the door wider, allowing us to use the widest ramp that the door opening will allow in both the Entervan and the Entervan XT.
Specs, brochures, pricing, orders: all are available now. If you didn’t receive a launch packet via email last week for some reason, please contact your Area Sales Manager.
Is there a need for both? I had the same question until I “looked under the hood,” and shooting this video really convinced me we definitely need to offer both! The majority of our customers will still be best served by the “standard” Entervan - people who sit shorter in their chairs will find their view of the road limited by how low they sit in the XT. I was talking to
Burnie Blackmon about this last week - we are going to shoot a video this week similar to the one we did with Tim Alexander above. Burnie is much shorter in his chair than Tim, and you’ll be able to see how the Entervan XT will not work well for him. Keep an eye out for it later this week on the blog.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Jack
July 9th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Chris and Jack,
Nice job on the XT. What a great option for people like Tim who sit higher in their chairs. Is this option only availabe on your Chrysler models?
The video didn’t show it clearly, but It looks like this is only available as a fold up ramp vs. a in-floor, right? Will you offer an in-floor ramp option with the XT?
Do you have any thoughts on the new Ford Transit Connect?
http://jalopnik.com/5147714/2010-ford-transit-connect-commercial-simplicity-at-21475
I realize that Ford is positioning it as a commercial vehicle but many of the features (lower floor, raised roof) may have a handicap van application. What are your thoughts?
Keep up the great work on your blogs.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Hi Chris,
Thanks! Yes, the XT is only available on Chrysler, and only with a fold-out ramp. An in-floor ramp is not out of the question in the future, but realize that these ramps actually decrease the amount of available headroom because they are stored in the floor - a fact that obviously contradicts the original purpose of the XT. The bottom line is, practicality and customer demand will determine whether an XT with an in-floor ramp is offered in the future.
The Transit Connect is an interesting vehicle, and I agree it looks like it may have some potential. Rest assured, we’re always looking at new vehicle offerings. If it’s a good solution and there is a demand for it, Ralph and our engineers will be giving it a hard look.
Thanks for reading!
Jack
December 25th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I’m also interested in applications using the Ford Transit Connect…. Small but good gas mileage, sliding doors, etc. It is probably going to be a tight fit, but I’m interested in using one to ferry a child in a wheelchair — either out of the wheelchair or in it using tie downs and seat belt.