Silverstone-based Lunaz has unveiled its first upcycled industrial electric vehicle (UEV), creating a new classification of electric vehicles.

Representing a significant carbon and cost saving versus replacing current vehicles with new electric equivalents. Upcycling, remanufacturing and electrification will play a vital role in plotting a more economically and ecologically viable course to global fleet decarbonisation. This also addresses significant capacity deficits versus demand for the production of new EV industrial vehicles.

Taking an approach proven in the company’s remanufacturing and electrification of passenger vehicles through its Lunaz Design classic cars business, it has applied this methodology to an industry with a global requirement to transition sustainably to clean-air powertrains at pace and at enormous scale.

An environmental audit commissioned by Lunaz estimates that more than 80 per cent of embedded carbon over total lifetime is saved when upcycling rather than replacing an existing refuse truck with a new EV equivalent. Lunaz will deliver a fully upcycled, re-engineered refuse truck built 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 expensively than a new electric-powered refuse truck.

Lunaz Applied Technologies, the company’s R&D, engineering and development arm has been readying the company’s first industrial vehicle offering from its foundation in 2018. This will be remanufactured, re-engineered and electrified Mercedes-Benz Econic platform vehicles for uses including as refuse trucks, commercial hauliers and for specialist applications in off-highway settings including airports.

This approach exposes the company to a potential market of 80 million existing ICE-powered vehicles in this class alone that will require either conversion, replacement or scrapping in the face of increasingly aggressive global legislation that either punitively taxes or will serve outright bans on the use of these vehicles over the next decade.

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