Lunaz Closes New Funding, Unveils Upcycled Rubbish Truck

British electric restomodding startup Lunaz has unveiled a new upcycled rubbish truck retrofitted with electric motors and batteries.

The company also revealed that it has closed a new funding round that brings the overall value of the company to $200 million.

“We are proud to stand amongst some of the fastest-growing companies in the UK,” says David Lorenz, Lunaz’s founder.

“By upcycling and electrifying industrial vehicles at scale, millions of tonnes of embedded carbon is saved by dramatically extending the usable life of thousands of vehicles that would otherwise be scrapped. By applying this approach to public sector vehicles like refuse trucks we deliver a result that is better for the taxpayer and better for the planet.”

Lunaz’s UEV

The retrofitted rubbish truck, set to be the first of a fleet of “Lunaz Industrial Upcycled Electric Vehicles (UEV),” started life as a regular rubbish truck. However, Lunaz has taken the vehicle through a full bare-metal restoration – giving fleet operators a vehicle in factory new condition.

Lunaz then removes the old diesel engine and replaces it with a suite of electric batteries and motors. The company claims that an environmental audit it commissioned found that more than 80% of the embedded carbon over a vehicle’s total lifetime is saved when upcycling, rather than replacing an existing truck with a new electric version.

Lunaz also adds new safety and control equipment when upcycling the vehicles. It removes wing mirrors and replaces them with cameras with “the latest blindspot protection through side-facing RADAR and 360 birds-eye view cameras.”

Despite all of these upgrades, the company believes that it can deliver fully upcycled, re-engineered rubbish trucks to a “near zero-mile” standard to councils and waste management companies for “broadly the same price” as a new diesel equivalent and “considerably less” than a new electric equivalent.

Lunaz is planning to build more than 1,100 of its upcycled industrial vehicles every year from its base in Silverstone, England.

“At Lunaz we have gathered an extraordinary technical team to create a robust and modular electric powertrain solution that can be applied to multiple industrial vehicle applications,” says Jon Hilton, Lunaz’s Managing Director and Technical Lead.”

“I am delighted that we can create true global impact in reducing cost and carbon burden for governments and companies as we collectively transition to clean-air powertrains.”

Lunaz’s New Funding 

Lunaz has also raised new venture capital funding that brings its total valuation to $200 million. This new funding is designed to help Lunaz create “the UK’s largest remanufacturing and electrification facility.” 

The new HQ for the company, which stands at 210,000 square feet, will produce the UEV vehicles – the first of which will be based on the Mercedes Econic platform.

Lunaz also says that it has signed fleet electrification agreements with major councils and private businesses in the UK and US, with an expected market entry date of 2023.

“In backing Lunaz I have invested in the proven potential of upcycling and electrification as an effective solution to the pressing question of how the world transitions sustainably to clean-air powertrains. Governments and companies need to urgently find ways to decarbonise their fleets. This approach dramatically saves money for the taxpayer and preserves millions of tonnes of embedded carbon for the planet. Lunaz has the technology, team and momentum to execute an ambitious global plan,” says Frederic Wakeman, Investor and Board Member, Lunaz.