Golden Ally Pro GP304 Power Wheelchair Canada

The lift, before anything else

Just under 70 pounds, and it stays in one piece.

Ready to drive, the Ally Pro weighs 75 lb, and you almost never lift all of it at once. The single heaviest piece is 69.6 lb, and that is the number to plan around, because the chair does not come apart any further than that. Front suspension and 10 in pneumatic drive wheels are a good part of that weight, and they are what make it ride well over a broken sidewalk.

iYou do not always have to lift it. A freewheel mode releases the drive, so the Ally Pro can be pushed by hand across a room or up a ramp.

Into the car

One latch, and nothing to unbolt.

Hold the frame release latch, take the push handle, lift a little, then push in towards the footplate. No tool is needed and no parts come off, so nothing gets left behind in the trunk. Golden does not publish a folded size, so measure your trunk against the standing size below.

• ✓It folds as one pieceNo armrest, footplate or seat back to take off first, and nothing loose to store
• ✓Standing size 39 in long by 25 in wideMeasured before it is folded, which is what a trunk has to swallow

The seat, and the doors

Seventeen inches of seat, on a chair twenty five inches wide.

The seat is 17 in wide and 16 in deep, and the armrests adjust out to leave up to 20 in of clear space between them. The back reclines and stands 19 in tall. The seat sits 20.5 in off the ground, about the height of a dining chair, so moving across to it is a sideways shift rather than a climb. The frame is rated to 330 lb, and the chair turns in 37 in on front casters that roll sideways as well as forward.

One charge

Twenty one kilometres on a full charge.

Golden publishes 21 km from a full charge. That is a best case on flat, smooth ground, so plan your day around a little less and you will not be caught out. Top speed is 8 km/h. Four things move the range figure, and they are below.

• ✓What you are carryingMore weight on board means fewer kilometres from the same charge
• ✓The surface you drive onSmooth pavement gives back more than gravel, grass or a rough sidewalk
• ✓Hills and rough groundA climb pulls harder than a flat run of the same length
• ✓Cold weatherEvery lithium battery gives back less in a Canadian February

iWhat is behind it. A single 12 Ah lithium-ion battery that lifts out and weighs 5 lb, on an off board charger, so it charges indoors while the chair waits in the car.