At Minibus World we are experts in manufacturing minibuses from 9 to 17 seats. We are often asked which is the best lift for a wheelchair accessible minibus? And as with most things in life, it is a bit ‘horses for courses’. However, in this blog we will seek to explain the options so you can make an informed decision. Alternatively, call the team at Minibus World who will be able to recommend a solution based on your needs.
The size of your minibus, seating configuration and day to day requirements will heavily influence the best lift for a wheelchair accessible minibus. You can configure a small minibus (that would normally seat 9) to hold one wheelchair but a large 17 seat minibus can be configured to hold up to 6 wheelchairs.
Once you know what size minibus you need the next consideration is use. Will you just be carrying wheelchair passengers? Will you need removable seating for able-bodied passengers? How often will you be transporting wheelchair passengers? The answers to these questions will affect your choice of lift or wheelchair ramp. To help you select your accessible minibus visit our web page.
Options to consider are under floor lift, onboard lift, split onboard lift, telescopic ramp and manual fold out ramp. But which is the best lift for a wheelchair accessible minibus?
Underfloor Electric Lift (Concealed Cassette Lift)
The most versatile lift offered by Minibus World. The lift sits under the rear of the minibus when not in use, so maximum standard seating can be maintained when not carrying a wheelchair. When wheelchair carrying ability is needed, it’s a simple case of removing the NMI quick release seats to free up space for the wheelchair(s).
Popular on larger minibuses and not available on our small accessible range, the underfloor lift is fully electric and both easy and safe to use.
The onboard lift as the name suggests is stowed onboard the minibus when not in use. It folds up vertically, adjacent to the rear doors of the minibus, taking up some space but not a huge amount (as you can see on the picture). As with the underfloor lift, the onboard lift maximises seating when not in use and is deployed simply and safely using a handheld controller.
A variation on the onboard lift a split onboard lift has the additional benefit that the lift platform separates in half as it retracts to be stowed. This grants the driver and passengers a greater field of vision by not obscuring the rear window of the minibus. At the same time it does not compromise ease of access to the wheelchair user.
Wheelchair accessible split onboard lifts are managed by a handheld controller. These are intuitive to use, with simple button management to deploy, lower, raise and stow.
Manual ramps are best used for infrequent wheelchair journeys due to size and weight. On the positive side they are cost effective, do not require LOLER certification and if not in use do not add any weight or impact on seating capacity in the minibus. At Minibus world we offer both telescopic and manual ramps.
So the best lift for a wheelchair accessible minibus is also down to client need. At Minibus World we can offer you a demonstration of a variety of lifts and if you are not close to us in the heart of Staffordshire, you can check out our video’s on our YouTube Channel.