WHILL Electric Drivetrain Add-On For Manual Wheelchairs

People using manual wheelchairs provide people with disabilities with the means to move around. But it can only get them so far using physical effort and with no one to help along pushing them where they want to go. It was maybe to help such people with limited means to go around that the WHILL Electric Drivetrain was developed.

The WHILL is a prototype electric drivetrain that was recently demonstrated at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. It looks like an oversized pair of headphones. But what it does is connect to the wheels of a manual wheelchair to provide it with some motor assisted boost to allow the users to travel longer distances.

The WHILL comes with a 24 volt electric motor powered by a lithium ion battery that is good to go for about 19 miles on a 2-hour charge. When attached to a wheelchair, it can achieve speeds of up to 12 mph and can simply be steered by the user by leaning in the direction where he wants to go. The WHILL prototype is currently being tested by looking for actual wheelchair users who will be testing its design and performance before it can be made commercially available.

Image Source: WHILL

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