Student and James Bond car designer team up for project

A Scottish student is to team up with a James Bond car designer to help develop the next generation of electric wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Zoe Graham, of Dumfries, will work with Ian Callum, also originally from the town, on the project.

The fourth year Glasgow School of Art (GSA) student won a competition to help design the prototype.

She will work with Mr Callum's agency, CALLUM, on the scheme to help electric vehicles be accessible to all.

The product design engineering student was one of 150 from GSA and the University of Coventry to look at the issue of adapting electric vehicles for wheelchair users.

Along with Yikuan Zhang, a third-year student in Coventry, Ms Graham will now have a paid placement at CALLUM to take forward a prototype.

They will also work with Motability Operations which supplies thousands of wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs) through the Motability Scheme.

The architecture of an electric vehicle, with the battery located in the floor, can presents design problems for wheelchair access.

"It's such an important and interesting design and engineering problem that could really benefit people," said Ms Graham.

"Even as a schoolchild, I wanted to make robotic limbs for people with disabilities - I would like to use my skills to design products that continue to improve the quality of people's lives.

"With my initial eWAV design, I wanted the user to have the best experience possible while also offering something 'cool' that has the new-age, exciting feel that most electric cars have today."

Mr Callum - who worked for many years with Jaguar and designed the Aston Martin driven by Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day - was impressed by the solutions suggested by the students.

"This is an incredibly complex problem that needs to be addressed today to ensure that no-one is left behind as the automotive industry moves towards its next electric evolution," he said.

"It's wonderful to get a glimpse at the next generation of talent and ideas that will soon enter the sector."

Andrew Miller, chief executive at Motability Operations, said solving the problem of wheelchair access was vital to help WAV drivers switch to electric vehicles in future.

He said they hoped the students and the design team could develop a "working solution" for the industry.

It is hoped the prototype can be revealed later this year.