Porsche helps upgrade trekking wheelchair for inclusive hiking in Switzerland

Sports car manufacturer Porsche and self-help organisation Procap are ensuring universal access to hiking in Switzerland by upgrading an all-terrain wheelchair called Protrek.

Intended for group hikes, Protrek was originally designed at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts in north-western Switzerland. With the aim of enhancing the assistive device it further, a project group visited the Porsche Vocational Training Center in early March 2023.

Protrek’s single-wheel design enables access to “extreme” terrain. Thanks to an attachable snowboard, the Protrek can also be used in winter. The trekking wheelchair weighs 33kg. It is foldable and can fit into a medium-sized station wagon. The auxiliary electric drive draws power from a battery mounted under the seat.

However, trekking “companions” – or attendants – are needed to operate it.

Protrek enables people with reduced mobility to enjoy outdoor excursions on rough terrain, for example in forests or on mountain trails. On such excursions, four to six co-hikers generally push, pull, and/or carry the wheelchair with the person sitting in it. Teams of up to eight members can take part on tours lasting several hours.

Despite the Protrek’s auxiliary electric drive, excursions require considerable strength and endurance on the part of co-hikers.

The mobility aid is used on trekking tours organised by the Procap Reisen & Sport company. Two-day group hikes are offered under the heading “Der Berg ruft” (“the mountain calls”). They take place four times a year, with the assistance of regular volunteers, such as the experienced alpinist Heinrich Hofer.

“The Protrek is a wonderful device,” he commented. “I’m a machinist, and I generally rebuild most of the machinery I work with until I’m satisfied with it. That wasn’t the case with the Protrek. It worked superbly right from the start.

“The electrified version, however, has a few things that could be improved. For example, the electric drive would benefit from a torsional basis. It also overheats on us sometimes.”

The Protrek is not mass produced. It is a small series of around 15 units, with or without an electric drive.

The wheelchair was designed back in 2005 in a joint project with Procap and the FHNW.

Stefan Kobler, a research associate at the university, has been involved with the project from the start and noted: “Over the years we’ve been developing the Protrek further with our students, and we added the e-drive in 2022. The design is very well conceived and has proved itself over the years. However, our funding is limited, which is due in part to the very small market for commercialisation.

“With Porsche offering to help, the project now has a fresh impetus. Improvements that we couldn’t have made on our own are now possible, for instance in connection with the weight or the electric drive.”

A project group is now evaluating numerous options in order to develop the Protrek further.

Its members include the Porsche Vocational Training Center, the Procap Reisen & Sport company including some of its disabled clients, and the FHNW. Students at the FHNW and Porsche trainees are expected to play major roles in the development project.

The aim is for the next generation of employees to learn together and to increase their exposure to the topic of reduced mobility.

Norbert Göggerle, who heads the technical training programme at Porsche AG, commented: “The Protrek is a great opportunity for our trainees, with a lot of room for creativity. It’s more than just an exercise. We can help people, and that’s a wonderful way to enhance our everyday work.

“The first step consists of listening very carefully in order to correctly identify the wheelchair’s strengths and weaknesses. We then want to develop it further in targeted ways, given that it has already received high praise from hikers.”

Protrek is part of the Join the Porsche Ride initiative.