TGA the UK suppliers of WHILL PEV (personal electric vehicle/electric wheelchair), have provided me with one to trial. We’ve been interested in WHILL ever since it hit the market – see our previous wheelchair reviews – so an in depth review/trial was long overdue. Never having used an electric wheelchair I was at first apprehensive using something not directly under my control. Below are my first tentative ‘steps’ with WHILL……
The mouse style control I found to be really sensitive hence my hitting the wall on the way up the ramp. Nevertheless, once I understood its workings (after 10 mins) it was really intuitive and I was impressed with the compact turning circle, so much so I’m going to attempt wheelchair dancing with WHILL.
I’ve since taken WHILL for lunch and negotiated some uneven pavements with no bother, avoiding 3″ kerbs/steps. There’s a strong camber on the pavement outside BBS Towers and I successfully negotiated this but it was a zigzag journey at the lowest speed. It was easier to control the direction of travel at faster speeds, not sure if that’s me or a ‘feature’??
I also posted the video on Facebook and received a clamour of comments from friends and family regarding its sleek appearance. When I visited the local restaurant even the staff stood and stared – I assumed it was WHILL they were looking at and not the ‘sheep’ around my neck??
Next week I’ll be trying to get WHILL up the ramp of a London taxi………..Let’s hope the cab driver has his patient hat on?