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The hybrid minivan cometh

Jun 18 11:16

Disgruntled drivers of adapted vans everywhere, the not-so-slick things we are forced to drive because hey, we drive from our power wheelchair - soon there will be a viable alternative to the gas-hog solutions we’ve only ever had: Big vans, minivans, or big trucks. And I don’t know about you, but this new van better not cost over $35k (but it probably will).

At first read, I thought this announcement was from small company that was doing something experimental, like putting an engine in a minivan that runs on used cooking-oil engine (that’s all the rage in the car world right now), but no, I was happily mistaken, and soon read that Ford was taking on one of my biggest annoyances of being disabled: Being stuck with a van that gets 20 mpg (17 in the city).

The Ford C-Max (the price and date have yet to be released), will be available in two versions. There will be a gas-electric version, which is similar to the Toyota Prius, and gets 41 mpg, and there will be a plug-in hybrid, which will be like the Chevrolet Volt, and will run on a pure electric engine, with the back-up gas engine only kicking-in when necessary. So FREAKING awesome. I need one of these asap, but they better be easy for the auto guys to convert into a lowered floor-ramp set-up (puulease?). You can read more about the Ford C-Max here.

Better yet, why doesn’t the Mv-1, which came out last year, and is the first wheelchair-accessible vehicle to be produced on an assembly-line, make a hybrid version?

But this is not the first electric minivan to ever be created in the history of the world mind you. That already happened back in 1993, when Chrysler created the TEVan (check it out here), but it was decimated in a move by the oil industry to kill off electric vehicles - idiota- which you can learn all about in the documentary (and one I very much recommend), Who Killed the Electric Car?

I'm happy to end this blog on a happy note: Auto experts say the C-Max could possibly be offered for as low as $25k. If that happens, that would be the best auto news for us lowered-floor/adapted van drivers since well, the EZ-Lock was invented.

Progress, a-hoy!

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1. jcrew | Jul 31 10:17

http://www.hybridsevolution.com/2011/06/ford-cancels-seven-passenger-c-max-for-u-s-focuses-solely-on-hybrid-and-energi-models/

Spin 2.0

By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.