BraunAbility manufacturers of wheel-chair-accessible vehicles which are usually based on minivans have recently teamed up with Ford to create the MXV. The company is one of its kind and one of the first one’s to target this specific market segment. The Explorer based model is going to have exterior modifications that include sliding doors, removable driver and passenger seats and a powered ramp that nestles into the vehicle’s floor.
The MXV will allow the wheelchair user to operate the MXV from the driver’s position with the normal seat removed, ride along as a front passenger or enjoy 56 inches of cabin height in the middle row which is large enough for most power wheelchairs. Apart from these changes there aren’t any changes to the Explorer’s powertrain and stays the same with a 3.5 liter V6 engine with 290 horsepower and 255 pound feet of torque. The fuel economy of the MXV matches the one with the Explorer with 17 km per liter in the city, 24 km per liter on the highway and 20 km per liter when combined, however the twin turbo EcoBoost V6 isn’t available.
More bad news is that all wheel drive also isn’t available due to the lowered floor necessary to make the vehicle large enough to work as a proper mobility vehicle. The BraunAbility MXV will be out for sale this fall and interestingly the first MXV will be given to wounded veteran Mike Delancey, a United States Marine paralyzed by a sniper’s bullet while serving in Iraq in 2006.
