Winnebago Converts to Electric Power to Help Kids Breathe Easier

Winnebago Industries Inc., the maker of outsized recreational vehicles, bookmobiles and mobile insurance offices, is starting to build customized battery-electric RVs with no tailpipe emissions.

It’s another example of a truck maker embracing electrification to help customers meet sustainability and environmental goals. Medium- and heavy-duty trucks accounted for 23 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions from all transportation in 2016, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Winnebago’s commercial offerings consume a lot of gasoline and diesel fuel. They come in lengths of nearly 34 feet and 39 feet. And they stand 12.5 feet tall, are almost 8.5 feet wide and weigh up to 26,000 pounds.

“If I buy a diesel-powered (blood donation truck), it’s likely I won’t be able to register it in three years because the air quality district is probably going to put the clamps down,” said Jamie Sorenson, Winnebago director of specialty vehicles and advanced technology.