A lift device of the type appended to a vehicle such as a tailgate lift or wheelchair lift. The lift includes a platform (12) movable between a lower or ground position (G) , an upper or load position (E) and a stowed position (S). The platform (12) assumes a horizontal orientation in the ground (G) and load (E) positions and is pivotable to a vertical orientation when stowed for vehicle movement. The platform (12) is connected to a lever arm assembly(13) and further includes hydraulic apparatus (14) to move the platform (12) between ground (G), load (E) and stowed (S) positions. The hydraulic apparatus (14) is actuated by a pump and motor assembly (36) which includes an electric motor (42) for actuation of the pump (4O) and hydraulic apparatus (14). By varying the speed of the motor (42), the speed of the platform (12) between various platform orientations can be varied.