Commercial vehicle upcycling firm Lunaz Applied Technology, which focused on converting bin lorries to battery electric variants, has entered administration citing “confirmed and anticipated delays” to deadlines for zero-emission fleets.
Lunaz, which boasts high-profile celebrity backers including David Beckham and comedian Jack Whitehall, launched its commercial arm three years ago.
It promised to strip out a truck’s combustion engine and replace it with an electric driveline and it had already struck deals with Biffa and Buckinghamshire council to convert their fleets.
However, Companies House records showed that the truck business changed its name to App Tech Productions last week and just 24 hours before it lodged an application to appoint administrators.
Lunaz Group said its high-end passenger car business was unaffected and remained in production with order books open.
A Lunaz spokesman said: “The Lunaz Group is currently restructuring its business to re-scope timelines for the start of production for commercial vehicle products.
“This means, the business entity Lunaz Applied Technologies has stopped operations. This decision re-balances business focus to passenger cars, which remain in production with order books open for its five engineered EV platforms.
“It is intended that engineered commercial vehicle platforms will commence production at a later date in response to confirmed and anticipated delays on the legislative requirement for fleets to transition to zero-emissions vehicles.”
The spokesman added: “This restructure will ensure demand for passenger vehicles can be met while ensuring commercial vehicles can be produced once market conditions drive demand.”
Last September, Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said Lunaz had been appointed to upcycle the council’s fleet of bin lorries at its Silverstone Technology Park site.
The first truck was due to be delivered to the local authority in the autumn ahead of a wider fleet conversion this year.
The LEP added that Lunaz had received £614,470 in grant funding from the government’s Getting Building Fund for R&D into the development of remanufactured and electrified CVs.
The company had also struck a deal with Biffa to support its transition away from diesel refuse trucks.
It was estimated that an initial order of up to 10 upcycled 26-tonne bin wagons would save Biffa up to 210 tonnes in embedded carbon.
Anthony Holley, Biffa’s fleet and facilities director, said: “We remain committed to growing our net zero fleet as part of wider plans to decarbonise our operations.
“By next year our target is for 10% of our vehicles to be alternatively fuelled, and our ambition by 2030 is that we will stop buying fossil fuel vehicles altogether. By 2040 our ambition is that there will be no fossil fuel vehicles in the fleet.
“A range of alternative fuels will help us achieve this, including electric, hydrogenated vegetable oil, biomethane and hydrogen, and we look forward to continuing our work with the Lunaz Group when operations for its commercial vehicle products recommence,” he added.
