Winnebago Goes Electric, Announces Partnership

Winnebago Industries, Inc., Forest City, Ia., has announced the launch of an all-electric commercial vehicle platform through the company’s Specialty Vehicles Division. In conjunction, Winnebago has announced a strategic partnership with Motiv Power Systems, Inc., for the development and supply of electric-powered chassis. As part of the strategic partnership, Winnebago intends to make a financial investment in Motiv, the terms of which were not disclosed.

The Specialty Vehicles Division of Winnebago is a manufacturer of specialty and custom-built vehicles for both commercial and residential use.

Winnebago said its all-electric commercial vehicle is based on a Class A RV platform utilizing Motiv’s Ford F53 based EPIC all-electric chassis and will be available in 33 ft. and 38 ft. lengths with a GVWR up to 26,000 pounds. The company said the vehicle is expected to find application in urban and semi-urban short range commercial uses like mobile medical clinics, bloodmobiles, mobile classrooms and mobile outreach vehicles. Road testing has been conducted on the vehicle, that houses six to eight batteries, and delivers an expected range of 85 to 125 miles on a full charge.

Motiv’s EPIC (Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis) family is CARB-certified, GSA-approved, and available for a number of different body configurations including walk-in vans, box trucks, work trucks, shuttle buses, school buses, trolleys, and other specialty vehicles. Motiv is a Ford eQVM-approved provider of all-electric chassis for commercial trucks and buses with more than 350,000 miles logged in fleet deployments throughout North America.