2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow The New York Taxi & Limousine Commission’s selection of the Nissan NV200 Taxi over some of the other contenders – the Turkish Karsan entry in particular – rankled New York’s handicapped rider community, because the Karsan proposal was for a 100-percent accessible fleet. So at the gala unveiling of Nissan’s production NV200 Taxi, wheelchair-bound protesters chanted outside and held signs. But inside, Nissan unveiled plans for a handicap-accessible version, to be upfitted by the Braun Corporation of Winamac, Indiana. Braun is responsible for many of the wheelchair-accessible minivan conversions you see on the road today, and is hammering out plans to convert an unspecified number of the 3000 or so NV200 Taxis that will enter service in Gotham each year (the company currently converts 7500 vehicles per year).

2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

 2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

2012 New York: 2014 Nissan NV is the Handicapable Taxi of Tomorrow

The design shown admits the wheelchair passenger through the rear hatch using a 7-degree ramp, latches the chair in the passenger side middle-row seat area (the seat is converted from a 60/40 to a 50/50 split dump-and-fold design), where the passenger is belted into the standard lap-shoulder belt. As the media were leaving the launch, Braun representatives were out front chatting with the protesters, who seemed at least somewhat placated by Nissan’s efforts, though clearly they would have preferred the ubiquitous Karsan approach to handicap taxi accessibility.