The Roamer Riding Chair from Roamer Technology is a lightweight portable power wheelchair that can be folded and pulled behind the caregiver like a piece of luggage.

The Power of
Portability

Transportable Power
Wheelchairs & Scooters

by Kathy Wechsler

In the past three years, the popularity of portable power wheelchairs and scooters has skyrocketed as the travel bug bites more people with disabilities. Perfect for travel by car, airplane or boat, portable mobility devices are the wave of the future, says Mark Farmer, owner of Southwest Mobility in Phoenix since 1989.

Good Things Come in
Small Packages

Manufacturers of portable power chairs and scooters, such as Pride Mobility, Sunrise Medical, Invacare, Merits Health Products, No Boundaries, Leisure-Lift and Ranger All Season, are working to make these devices as lightweight, compact and easy to take apart as possible.

Even though these units are portable, they have all the same pieces as standard power wheelchairs and scooters, but weigh less because the pieces are smaller. Most portable power chairs and scooters weigh between 90 and 120 pounds, while standard power chairs usually weigh around 200 pounds, and most standard scooters weigh around 150 pounds.

Because they’re so lightweight and have small batteries, the weight of the rider needs to be taken into account. Most portables have a weight capacity of about 250 pounds and aren’t appropriate for a larger person.

In general, portable units fold or disassemble without tools into three to five pieces, with the heaviest piece usually weighing about 20 to 35 pounds. Because the battery pack drops in place, there aren’t any connectors to disconnect. They fit into the trunks of most average-sized cars.

Other
Issues

Before buying a portable power chair or scooter, Farmer suggests

Frank Mobility Systems’ E.Fix is a power add-on system that transforms your manual wheelchair into a power chair, giving the user the best of both worlds.

learning how hard it is to take apart and put back together. It’s also a good idea to know the weight of the heaviest section. If it turns out to be too difficult or heavy to keep disassembling and reassembling, it might end up just sitting in the closet.

Batteries on portable power chairs and scooters don’t last as long as on standard devices because they’re smaller and not quite as powerful. Portables’ battery packs last about a year, whereas batteries on standard devices will last a couple of years. Portables also have a shorter driving range before they need to be recharged. Portable power chairs and scooters can travel up to 4 miles an hour.

Portables have smaller wheels, which makes the ride rougher. They’re better for use inside because rough terrain can be taxing on the batteries.

But they’re durable. As you’ve read in his “To Boldly Go” travel column in Quest, Andy Vladimir, who has myotonic muscular dystrophy, uses his 10-year-old portable Amigo scooter to travel the world.

Vladimir, of Coconut Grove, Fla., doesn’t take his scooter apart on a daily basis because he can drive it into his wheelchair-accessible van, but he does use the disassembly feature while traveling.

“When I have to take it apart, like in taxis, I just take the seat off and pull the handle down,” he says. “It’s very easy to take apart, and it goes very