While RV makers tackle this range issue, the association is working with the RV industry “to make sure the [charging] infrastructure is in place and that national parks and outdoor recreation areas aren’t being forgotten as we are putting these investments into EV infrastructure,” says association spokesperson Monika Geraci.
Winnebago, of Eden Prairie, Minn., worked with Lightning eMotors, a Love-land, Colo., company that electrifies commercial vehicles, to design its e-RV concept to travel 125 miles on a single charge while also powering onboard systems. Winnebago expects that range to increase “with improving battery technology,” Reece says.
It would take 45 minutes to fully recharge Winnebago’s e-RV concept’s battery at a high-speed commercial charging station.
Winnebago in 2019 formed its Ad- vanced Technology Group, which created the company’s electric motor home concept. The e-RV is built on a Ford Transit platform with an enhanced powertrain on an 86-kilowatt-hour battery that would propel the vehicle and provide power to the living area.
The Thor and Winnebago concepts both include technology that informs users of charging station locations as they travel.
Said Hjelmaker: “The next generation, the millennials and Gen Zers, are joining the RV life with new expectations of ease of use, ownership, digital presence and a shift toward more sustainable solutions.”
