Motability Operations has unveiled a passenger wheelchair accessible electric demonstrator car.
It aims to encourage car manufacturers to seize an opportunity to ensure that wheelchair users are not left behind by the transition to electric vehicles.
The car, named eVITA, was designed and assembled in Britain in collaboration with design studio Callum, using insights from disabled people to address the obstacles wheelchair users face with existing electric vehicles.
Motability Operations is sharing the design work with car manufacturers at no cost to enable the production, or conversion, of WAVs.
It has teamed up with Kia Corporation on the development of a wheelchair-accessible variant of the PV5 — part of Kia’s first Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) model.
The PV5 WAV variant is on show in the UK for the first time at the FT Future of the Car summit.
Andrew Miller, CEO of Motability Operations, said: “Up to 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK are at risk of being left behind as the country shifts to electric vehicles but this can be addressed by placing accessibility at the heart of vehicle design.
“That is why we invested in eVITA – informed by our customers’ insight – to provide a blueprint for how manufacturers can embed accessibility into design processes from the outset, reducing cost and protecting disabled people’s independence.
“This is just the first step. Our aim is to work with as many manufacturers and converters as possible to share our learnings and support the development of solutions that will safeguard disabled people’s mobility as the industry moves towards electric.”
Ian Callum CBE, Design Director of CALLUM, said: “Good design should start with understanding people and their real-world needs. Working with Motability Operations on eVITA has been an opportunity to understand what wheelchair users actually need from a vehicle as the industry transitions to electric.