Permobil has an excellent reputation for quality and customer service, in no small part due to the excellent service of their local representative, Pete Lewis. Overall, is an excellent, well-designed front wheel drive chair that coincidentally utilizes Penny & Giles controllers. It has a wide variety of features, is very comfortable, and very maneuverable. I personally do not prefer front wheel drive chairs due to the "tail waiting" effect while driving in a straight line that limits forward speed to less than 5 mph.
Permobil has just entered the standup wheelchair market this past year. [see correction in bold below... apparently I had been misinformed. (January 25, 2006)] The standing motion seems very robotic, an electronically combined form of the other features that the chair does very well such as recline, elevate, and leg elevation. Standing and driving requires the use of small casters under the foot plates and overall does not feel as stable as some of the other chairs. Consequently, speed is limited, and they do not recommend driving while standing on anything but flat, smooth indoor surfaces. A further limiting factor is its 21.5” seat height. This prevents one from pulling up under most standard height tables and can make driving from the chair, or even riding in it, almost impossible except for shorter individuals.Overall, an excellent chair for those that like front wheel drive and don't mind sitting higher, but room to improve in the standing department.
From: Pete Lewis [mailto:Pete.L@PermobilUS.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:56 PM
To: Mark@Felling.us
Subject: Hello from Pete Lewis!
Hi Mark!
I hope this email finds you doing well. I am happy to have visited your website recently and my compliments to you for having such a great site and resource. I don’t know how frequently you update the wheelchair review section however I did want to provide you with some updates and a small correction regarding the information you have posted. Permobil has introduces their new professional rehab series chairs (October 2004) and now offers the C500 power wheelchair base which accommodates the power standing seating system. The C500 is the next generation of Chairman 2K and replaces the Chairman 2K model. The upgrades and new options on the C500 base include the following:
New shroud design with greater definition of “lines” or styling of the shape of the shroud,New color shrouds,Short wheel base option,Lowrider option providing 18.5” seat-to-floor height,Single free-wheel lever or brake disengage lever moves to front right (previously front left on C2K),Charger socket on C500 is now on side right (previously front left), and High speed option now available (7.5 mph) which includes ESP (enhanced steering control) to allow for smooth driving control at high speeds.You mentioned on your site (May 2004) that “Permobil just entered the standup wheelchair market this past year”. Permobil has been manufacturing and offering the power standing seating system since 1985 and goes back to being available on their original Chairman power wheelchair base. As you know, Permobil has been manufacturing power wheelchairs since 1968 and has been offering their chairs in the United States since the early 1980”s.
Mark, I do want to thank you for your kind words regarding me and the level of service I provide! I really appreciate that and I sincerely enjoyed meeting with you and working with you through the process of you evaluating power wheelchairs!
I am excited to hear it sounds like you are almost finished with your MBA and hope that goes well for you. I am also happy to hear that the neuroprosthetic implant has given you greater improvement and use of your hand! It seems like there will be continued programming and fine tuning which will hopefully yield even better results.
I have no doubt that with your skills, abilities, and knowledge you will have a great deal of success with everything you are involved with. I wish you all the in business and life.
Keep in touch,
Pete Lewis, ATS
Sales Manager
Permobil, Inc.
6961 Eastgate Blvd., Lebanon, TN 37090
Phone: 800-736-0925 ext. 313
Fax: 651-389-9136
pete.l@permobilus.com