David Beckham invests in Lunaz, the electric vehicle conversion specialist

Lunaz is a rapidly growing technology company that upcycles and converts motor vehicles to its proprietary electric powertrain. Recently, it announces an ambitious new growth phase following backing by a group of strategic investors. 

Lunaz, headquartered in Silverstone, provides a proven response to the requirement legislated by global governments to sustainably transition vehicle fleets to clean-air powertrains.

David Beckham has joined as an investor having successfully identified and backed fast-growth start-ups in sectors as diverse as eSports and athletic recovery products. He took a 10% stake in the company.

The company established its global leadership in vehicle electrification through its work furthering the legacies of the most celebrated classic cars in history. Bringing to market the world’s first fully-electric Range Rover, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar sports cars through its Lunaz Design brand. It did this to much global customer and critical acclaim. The 1961 Bentley Continental Flying Spur by Lunaz was awarded by BBC Top Gear in its ‘Electric Vehicle Awards’ issue.

Since Lunaz started production of its first cars in 2019 it has drawn an entirely new generation to some of the most revered marques in history. They have been compelled by the answer electrification provides to the key questions of reliability, usability and sustainability that surround classic car ownership. This growth has accelerated as individual and hospitality buyers across the globe rebalance their fleets in response to increasing pressure from legislators to limit the use of high-emissions vehicles in city-centres.

Following this injection of growth capital Lunaz is announcing ambitious plans to grow its offering to the upcycling and electrification of industrial vehicles on a mass global scale. Lunaz will begin with industrial HGV vehicles including refuse trucks, of which 80 million currently exist in the UK, EU and USA alone.

The Lunaz remanufacturing and electrification process will extend the life of up to 70% of the existing weight and embedded carbon within a vehicle. It also saves fleet operators significant costs compared with replacing existing vehicles with new. For example, a municipal authority could save more than 43% in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of an upcycled and electrified refuse truck versus replacing their existing fleet with new equivalent electric vehicles.

By 2030 when internal combustion engine (ICE) bans in major markets come into effect, more than 2 billion conventionally powered vehicles will exist on the planet. Remanufacturing, upcycling and electrification can prevent a large proportion of these vehicles from being scrapped. This approach is in line with the principles of the rapidly emerging circular economy.

The Lunaz Group will remanufacture and electrify passenger, commercial and industrial vehicles through three distinct companies:

Lunaz Design: Revives, re-engineers and converts pinnacle classic cars to electric powertrains.

Lunaz Applied Technologies: Upcycles and re-engineers specialist industrial fleet vehicles to factory new standard and converts them to the Lunaz proprietary electric powertrain.

Lunaz Powertrain: Provides the Lunaz proprietary modular powertrain as a turn-key, white-label product for OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and independent automotive engineering businesses.

The Lunaz Group’s industrial vehicles offering, delivered through the Lunaz Applied Technologies  business, will initially focus on heavy industrial vehicle classes 6, 7 and 8. This includes HGVs, refuse trucks, fire engines and commercial vehicles.

Lunaz is unburdened from the capital expenditure requirements of manufacturers building electric vehicles from scratch. By taking vehicles and upcycling them using components proven over millions of miles, the Lunaz solution is de-risked and provides an instantly deployable alternative to ICE vehicles or new EV vehicles.