Invacare Esprit - Folding Chair

Invacare Esprit 4NG - Folding Chair (with Alber motors) 

This chair is by far my favourite chair so far - ever! This chair is supposed to be a temporary, fold-up chair with a lightweight removable battery for part-time or lightweight users. However, due to the marvellous Alber motors which are actually situated in the wheels the chair actually has one of the most excellent indoor and outdoor performances I know on any chair.

Configurability

Due to being based on the Action 4NG manual wheelchair frame this chair is only as configurable as any Action range wheelchair is. In other words, the base is the same as a manual wheelchair.  However, it can be configured to quite a lot of needs. The ways you can configure it are:

• Recline back
• Side Supports 
• Adjustable backrest 
• Virtually any armrest available to the Action range; comfort, ergo, desk, hemiplegic etc
• Any headrest available to the Action range 
• Various controller types 
• Swing away armrest 
• Elevating leg rests 

The chair could also be technically made into a comfortable chair using a ratchet backrest though I don't think Invacare offer this as standard. You could also use the comfort range of side panels if you didn't like the standard ones on this chair. In Europe, this chair is also available with the Clematis frame which means it can recline - but this is not yet available on here in the UK. 

I have made several videos about the unusual capabilities of this particular chair but I must stress that the things I show in my videos are not within the recommended range of the spec of the chair. I will put a link to my Wheelchair Geek Channel on Youtube if you are really interested in this chair. 

Who is it for?

• Anyone who does not needs specialist support as part of their daily chair package
• Anyone who does not absolutely need to have tilt on their chair 
• Anyone who can usually manage in a manual chair but would like an occasional electric-powered option 
• Anyone using a chair occasionally such as for shopping, a holiday 
• Anyone who does not own or want a WAV

Who is it not for?

• Not suitable for long-term, permanent use 
• Anyone needing tilt 
• Anyone needing a long-range battery 
• Anyone wanting to add things that can't usually be added to a manual chair

Summary 

If you are a spoonie, zebra or part-time wheelchair user who needs a high level of support within a folding powerchair then I would not personally consider using any other type of chair.