For more than 50 years, wheelchair accessible vehicles have relied on ramps and extended platforms. Phil Schlangen’s WAV Design Tech takes a different approach: a section of the vehicle floor lowers to the ground, allowing a wheelchair user to enter without a ramp or platform extending beyond the vehicle. The design improves safety during entry and travel, costs less to install, and is easier to adapt for electric vehicles. Here are seven key advantages of WAV Design Tech systems.

Seven Advantages of WAV Design Tech

1. A safer way to enter the vehicle
With the WAV Design Tech (WDT) system, a section of the vehicle’s floor lowers to the ground. The wheelchair user rolls onto that section, and the floor rises with them into the vehicle. There’s no extended ramp or platform to navigate. That matters in rain, snow, and ice, when a wheelchair can slip on a ramp or platform.

2. Know when the wheelchair is safely positioned
Sensors check the wheelchair’s position and provide an audible signal if it needs to be adjusted. These audio cues help the user find the right position without having to judge it by sight alone. The floor won’t move until the wheelchair is correctly positioned and secured, helping prevent it from moving at the wrong time.

3. Enter with less space beside the vehicle
Extended ramps and lifts typically need about six to eight feet of clear space beside the vehicle so the wheelchair user can approach and use them. With the WDT system, the user pulls alongside the vehicle and moves into position using about four feet of space, roughly the space needed for the wheelchair itself. That can make entry possible where there isn’t room to deploy a ramp or lift.

4. Making wheelchair access possible in electric vehicles
A conventional ramp conversion can require cutting into about 40 square feet of a vehicle’s floor. The WDT system takes up a much smaller section, about 10 square feet.

That difference matters in minivans, small-medium-full sized SUV’s, and larger electric vehicles, where heavy battery packs typically sit beneath the floor. Making room for a conventional ramp system could require moving too many batteries, with limited space elsewhere to put them. Shifting that much weight could also affect the vehicle’s balance and handling. WDT’s smaller footprint may make wheelchair access possible in electric vehicles that cannot accommodate a conventional ramp system.

5. A way out when every second matters
Imagine traveling alone when an emergency disables the vehicle’s power. If the doors and wheelchair ramp or lift depend on that power, how do you get out?

The WDT system includes an emergency release called gravity drop. Turning a hand valve releases pressure in the system, opening the doors and lowering the floor to the ground without electrical power. Once the floor reaches the ground, the wheelchair user can roll out. For someone traveling alone, that way out is essential in a crash, fire, or other emergency.

6. Head support built into the vehicle
A wheelchair occupant needs head support while traveling, especially if the vehicle is struck from behind or stops suddenly. WDT includes a headrest that moves into place as the vehicle doors close. No other currently available wheelchair accessible vehicle offers this built-in safety feature.

7. Automatic wheelchair securement
A wheelchair must be securely held in place while the vehicle is moving. WDT automatically captures and secures the wheelchair by its driving wheel, creating a built-in way to secure the chair before traveling. In an emergency, the egress system releases the wheelchair so the occupant can exit.