Car changes life of wheelchair-bound

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) - Thursday a one-of-a-kind car will roll out of Pflugerville, a model that could change the lives of those who use manual wheelchairs.

It's called the KENGURU electric car by Community Cars.

Stacy Zoern, an Austin attorney who has been in a wheelchair her entire life, wanted to find an alternative to driving a retrofitted van.

She found a company in Hungary that was working to produce electric cars that are about the size of a Smart Car.

But when the project was put on hold Zoern raised $1.4 million and moved the manufacturing to Pflugerville.

Now after two months of production the first car is ready. It is expected to allow for greater mobility for those in a manual wheelchair.

"It has a motorcycle handlebar so the user can just roll in the back, the back hatch lifts and you roll in and take off," said Stacy Zoern, CEO Community Cars.

The cars retails for $25,000.

Zoern said when you compare that to the average cost of an electric wheelchair being around $35,000 it makes the car affordable.

Right now there are waiting lists in several countries for the car and she gets e-mails daily requesting a car.

The company plans to manufacture between 500 and 1000 cars per year.

The next model will allow those in an electric wheelchair to use the car.