Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

As we cover technological breakthrough in mobility and accessible devices, most of our coverages are focused on new technology or some other improvements. One common thing to all these new and upcoming devices and solutions is that they are very expensive, carrying a price tag of many thousand dollars… Ingenuity of a charity Free wheelchair mission could challenge all commercial devices, and drop price point for wheelchairs dramatically! 

Many of us can not afford new electric wheelchair every time we wish to. Medicare and other insurance companies always seem to find a just reason to dodge the payment. But we are still scratching only the surface of the problem, as worldwide there are over 100 million people with need for a wheelchair (manual or electric), but can not afford it. Charity organization Free wheelchair mission is helping these poorest of the poor, by giving away wheelchairs for free. "So what?", you say. Sure, we have had charities and donations before, giving away wheelchairs, but mostly they can help a few, or mostly up to few dozen people. What sets Free wheelchair mission apart, is their plan, and their numbers. In last five years they donated 224.873 wheelchairs, to recipients in 67 countries. How can they give tens of thousand of wheelchairs away for free every year? Well, part of answer is donations, but bigger and more important part is the smart design. They are not buying and donating regular wheelchairs, but rather have them manufactured under their own special design. The goal of the design was to archive a bottom rock cost! With use of general available parts, clever engineering and manufacturing in China, charity managed to obtain the unbelievable cost of $44 per complete wheelchair!

Wheelchair is combined from many parts, but major ones are light frame, regular wheels and a plastic lawn chair. Yes, the white one… Manufactured wheelchairs are sent from China by sea to final destinations, where they are put together by volunteers. Ironically, Charity does not give wheelchairs to poor Americans, as liability insurance for doing so within US would cost $200.000 yearly (and for developing countries its only $1.000-2.000).

And although they will not win and design awards, they do increase quality of life for thousands of disabled, ill or injured. Charity has made the blueprint for wheelchair publicly available, allowing copying to others interested. With permission in place, it might be safe to speculate that we could see the rock bottom electric wheelchair at let's say $88 maybe some time soon…

Source: FreeWeelchairMission