Aixam’s lightweight, easy to drive vehicles are currently the only quadricycles to be accepted onto the Motability scheme, which provides personal transport for those in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.

Aixam’s are four-seat vehicles to appeal to different types of drivers. Key amongst these are motorcyclists who have a motorcycle and B1 license but are not qualified to drive a car. However, Aixams can be adapted and driven by selected individuals who don’t possess any license. In addition, Aixams appeal to drivers looking for a compact, manoeuvrable vehicle for town use, where its automatic gearbox and its ability to squeeze into tiny parking spaces are seen as important advantages.

An Aixam is a distinct proposition from a car, weighing only 500kg, and having an in-line two-cylinder Kubota engine. The body itself is ABS acrylic on an aluminium chassis, so it is dent and rust resistant.

This all adds up to a vehicle that feels very different from a conventional car, but which offers a number of distinct advantages that some drivers prefer – easy handling and a fuel consumption figure of around 80 miles to the gallon are chief of these.

Aixam describes its appeal to mobility-restricted drivers by saying: “Our vehicles have a lot to offer disabled drivers – the doors are large and easy to manoeuvre into and out of, and the latest models also have a hatchback with a low lip which makes it very easy to load mobility aids into the back.”

Visit the Motability website