Eden Prairie-based Winnebago joins the electric vehicle race

Winnebago Industries created a unit in 2019 to capitalize on emerging technologies and how to use them to maintain the Eden Prairie-based company's leadership position in the recreational vehicle industry.

The unit's biggest project to date was on display last week at the Florida RV SuperShow in Tampa as Winnebago revealed its eRV electric concept vehicle.

"We see electrification as one of the big defining trends of our era," said Ashis Bhattacharya, Winnebago's senior vice president of business development and head of the Advanced Technology Group. "We want to make sure we are in the lead on this."

The company designed the eRV for the electric age. Rather than retrofit an existing vehicle chassis with battery technology, the technology group designed the new RV from the ground up in a process that took two years.

"We really went back to the drawing board and completely redesigned what an RV might look like in the age of electric vehicles," Bhattacharya said.

Now the company needs to commercialize the electric vehicle. Bhattacharya said it will be several years before the eRV is on showroom floors.

"This technology is evolving so much, and we are putting so much focus on building a really innovative differentiated vehicle, that I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of things change in the production vehicle," Bhattacharya said.

The all-electric camper van, or Class B recreational vehicle, is built off a Ford Transit platform. It is powered by a 86-kWh battery that would give the vehicle a range of about 125 miles — not enough to get from the Twin Cities to Duluth.

Bhattacharya is aware of the range limitation and said the company is working on improvements to both the battery technology and chassis design to increase the range. He says a new version of the chassis alone would add 50 miles to the range.

But the company also points to consumer research that shows the majority of new RV owners say they prefer making trips of less than 200 miles. About 20 to 25% of RV owners are regularly making even shorter trips, Bhattacharya said.

Electrification is becoming a must for vehicle makers.

Major automakers from Ford and General Motors to Honda, Mercedes Benz and Volvo have announced major electric initiatives. But other companies are also developing smaller utility and recreational vehicles that are battery powered, including Minnesota companies like Toro and Tennant.

Medina-based Polaris Industries in December introduced its all-electric side-by-side Ranger XP Kinetic, which is aimed at farmers, ranchers, hunters and landowners. The limited production models sold out within two hours.

Winnebago's direct competitors in on-road recreational vehicles and travel trailers are also working on all-electric and hybrid RVs, including Elkhart, Ind.-based Thor Industries and Forest River Inc.

The fully functioning Winnebago eRV concept vehicle has been driven thousands of miles. But there still needs to be some refinement.

Now that the company is past the debut event, it will start making the concept vehicle and a second version being built in north Iowa available to select dealers and RV enthusiasts to gain additional feedback, Bhattacharya said.

The vehicle's subsystems — like the water heater and air conditioning/heat pump — were designed to run off 350-volt DC power, which should help appliances and systems run more efficiently. Onboard and smartphone applications would give users all the data on battery charge, usage and range.

The company also has used sustainable options for the finishes.

The eRV will not be the only concept to come out of the Advanced Technology Group, Bhattacharya said. For example, "we are definitely looking at autonomous technology," Bhattacharya said.