Jason and Ed’s posts about specialized mobility vehicles reminded me of an article I read in the NYT recently about this very slick solution: a compact, one-person EV with a very low rear floor height to allow easy access for a solo wheelchair-bound driver. It’ s called Kenguru (website), and I’m almost surprised it hasn’t been done before.
It’s so short that it can readily be parked perpendicular against a city curb for direct entry; a version with a lowering ramp is in development.
The motorcycle-type controls fall readily to hand.
The Kenguru obviously isn’t highway capable, as its classified as a NEV (neighborhood EV) with speed limited to 25 mph. But for a lot of wheel-chair bound folks, this might well be a very attractive solution for in-town mobility and greater independence. Production is scheduled to begin this summer, for about $25,000. Van type conversions like the Entervan can run to $80k or more.
Perhaps you mean parked perpendicular to and against the city curb? 🙂 (Written with all due respect)
I sure did! The question is why my fingers didn’t hear what I was thinking?
This is an interesting vehicle, but I am surprised that there is little or no room for cargo. Even something saddlebag-sized for the sides or a storage compartment in the front would greatly increase its utility for around town trips (like a grocery store run).
Rather reminds me of an Invacar, except that the Kenguru is much more accessible to a person who uses a wheelchair.
I don’t think it will be popular. I live in The Heartland of Florida. Read that to mean that it’s almost all elderly. Wheel chairs/mobility scooters are outnumbered only by golf carts. The carrying cart for those things are mostly on the back of Town Cars and SUV’s. I don’t think that micro-Smart will appeal to them.
It was originally designed in Europe. I can imagine it being useful in urban locales. But they’re not planning on making many; it’s clearly a very limited market.
My cousin was paralyzed waist down from crashing a pocket rocket. He used to drive an Eclipse with paddle controls. Not sure if he got a different vehicle or not. Why buy a kenguru when you can just get a regular car outfitted with paddle controls?
Because not everyone who is in a wheelchair can transfer in and out of a standard car and store their chair by themselves. If they can’t then this would be a great solution.