Ryan Winchester: Driving McKinstry’s EV Fleet to the Next Level

Ryan Winchester is a self-described car nut who enjoys rebuilding classic vehicles and attending car shows. He encourages sustainability, believing no act is too small to make a difference. As McKinstry’s fleet manager, he’s landed a dream job to match his passions, collaborating on the selection and design of some of the most innovative electric vehicles to be found in the construction industry while helping McKinstry reduce its carbon footprint through fleet electrification.

Having set a goal of full fleet electrification by 2030, McKinstry has been on a learning journey to explore technologies, test vehicles, and develop industry standards. McKinstry was among the first in the country to purchase Silverado EV trucks, the mainstay of the 100+ and growing EV fleet.

As fleet manager, Ryan’s focus is taking McKinstry’s Silverado EVs to the next level for teams. In most cases, trucks need to be custom fitted to haul tools and materials. Because weight impacts their range, Ryan works to ensure the EV trucks could both serve electrification goals and get the job done.

An EV Truck That Pulls Out All the Stops

In true McKinstry “Constantly Curious” fashion, Ryan sat down with the vehicle upfit experts at AlVan Equip in Seattle, drawing potential designs on a laminated photo. The team left no idea unexplored for what could be possible in a jobsite-ready EV Silverado that was also light enough to maintain range. The hand-drawing became a CAD rendering, which became a prototype truck — the first of its kind for the Silverado EV, with unique light-weight aluminum fittings.

“It was so fun to get to use my creativity and the knowledge I have of cars both in my career and as a hobbiest. One of the coolest things is the fact that we’ve now put an EV together that, as it sits right now, is one of one; there’s no other vehicle out there like that.”

With this upfit model and other versions tailored to our teams now on the road, McKinstry is setting the standard for the industry and providing an example to clients of how fleet electrification can be done.

Going the Extra Mile

While Ryan enjoys the opportunity to flex his creative muscles on his own, he also appreciates being part of a full team of McKinstry professionals who are looking at electrification from all aspects — from which vehicles are best for the need to how they be charged effectively by employees on the job and at home to how can they be driven to maximize range.

“We’ve applied a whole science to how we approach building and deploying an EV fleet. We’re on the cutting edge of what we’re doing including being among the first companies to buy EV Silverados, implementing home charging for employees, upfitting our trucks for the jobsite and so many other considerations — we’ve really broken it down.”

Innovation that Never Stops

EV technology is evolving constantly and McKinstry is staying on top of developments. Recently, Ryan has secured several GM BrightDrop vans for the Service team to pilot on client calls. Ryan is also excited to check out an EV 26-ft flatbed truck (“The biggest EV I’ve ever seen!”) for a test drive.

In addition to EV makes and models, Ryan and team are looking at all conceivable ways of charging EVs, including finding ways to hook up to temporary and portable power sources at the jobsite and even exploring mobile services that can drive up and charge vehicles as needed.

“At McKinstry, being who we are and how we do things, we’re looking at every aspect to make sure we’re growing our fleet responsibly and putting the right things in place to ensure we’re successful.”

Having done the legwork and testing in-house, McKinstry is able to give expert advice to clients on how to do the same.

“At this point, we’d be able to walk into any company and show them how to electrify their fleet efficiently and responsibly to make it work for them. We’re going to influence change in the market because we’ve done so much of the guess work.”