Purpose-Built Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicle eVITA Will Leave You Speechless

Motability is a British charity that offers so-called mobility allowances to people suffering from a long-term health condition or disability, regardless of their earnings or savings. These people can spend said allowance to lease a brand-new car, a scooter, or, in more extreme cases, even powered wheelchairs or wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAV).

The group says it serves the needs of 750,000 customers, guiding them all to a transition to electric vehicles. That's a natural evolution of things, given the current trends in the industry, but something that may leave some disabled people behind.

You see, current wheelchair-accessible vehicles powered by electricity, few as they are, are actually conversions of existing vehicles and come with limited internal space and height. That's owed to the fact that the batteries for these things are mounted inside the floor, which also limits the available payload capacity.

And that's a big problem for people in a wheelchair, especially the ones looking for small and medium vehicles adapted to their needs, as they're left with very few choices. And that's why Motability thought it would be best to come up with a purpose-built wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

The thing is called eVITa, and it was designed by engineering company Callum. You might know this crew for their work on the Nyobolt electric vehicle, or the $10,000 lounge chair, or perhaps the Vanquish 25, a reimagined Aston Martin.

The same skill and expertise were applied to the eVITA, and what resulted is a sort of van that will leave you speechless.

Shown last week in concept form, the vehicle has generous but not exaggerated dimensions. It is built on a 2,980 mm wheelbase and measures 4,520 mm long, 1,908 mm wide, and 1,800 mm tall.

The thing is an EV, and its powertrain comprises a 50 kWh battery pack that should be more than enough to provide a range of up to 200 miles (322 km). We are not being given any specifics of the exact motor capabilities and performance levels.

The interesting thing about the battery pack is that it has been repackaged and rearranged to reduce its height, thus allowing the van to deploy a "roofline that accommodates access requirements and provides appropriate headroom for wheelchair users entering via the rear split tailgate."

The battery is still in its normal position, under the floor, but it can only be found under the first row of seats, meaning everything beyond that and to the tailgate is nothing more than a perfectly flat and low floor. Because of its positioning, the battery also helps with providing a lower center of gravity for the eVITA. That helps provide a smoother ride, a thing a highly damped rear suspension system is also meant to be doing.

A person in a wheelchair can thus use an included ramp to climb inside, aided by the ride height of the van of just 160 mm. In all, the vehicle comes with four doors, two at the front and two at the rear, with the latter set of the sliding doors variety.

A split tailgate has been installed at the rear, with the upper part becoming an extension of the roof to protect the people sitting under it in bad weather. On the lower part, a low-angle ramp automatically extends when the doors open. There is even a winch there to help a wheelchair and its occupant get inside more easily and safely.

An interesting thing about the rear of the vehicle is that it comes with LED puddle lights. These are meant to inform motorists parking behind the van exactly how much space to leave behind the vehicles to allow the complete opening of the tailgate.

Once inside, people can enjoy an impressive view of the outside, which is ensured by a cutaway panoramic roof. If looking outside is not to someone's liking, they can use smartphones and tablets, which can be charged thanks to a pair of charging ports.

Unlike in traditional vehicles, where the controls for things like infotainment, heating, and air conditioning are only accessible to the front occupants, the eVITA offers them for the rear passengers as well, courtesy of something called a utility bar that is fully customizable. Aside from controls for the car's systems, this bar can also deploy hooks for hanging stuff and cup holders.

At the time of writing, neither Motability Operations nor Callum said anything about when we should expect the eVITA in real life, roaming British roads. The price of the van is also not known, but that's something the very large pool of people who will be using will not have to worry about.