Lunaz – first electric Rolls-Royce, now electric garbage truck

The village of Silverstone in West Northamptonshire has just around 2,000 inhabitants but is a mecca for many motorsport fans. On March 13, the first Formula 1 race of the first Formula 1 World Championship was held here. The racetrack is located on the site of an old airfield about one kilometer south of the village. The Aston Martin Formula 1 team is based in close proximity to the racetrack and employs around 200 staff. The company Lunaz Design, which has made a name for itself converting British classic cars into electric vehicles, has also settled near the racetrack. One of the founders, Jon Hilton, is a former Formula 1 engineer.

Lunaz Design started in 2018 with the conversion of British classic cars into electric vehicles. The idea was so successful that today's requests are already being declined with the notice that production capacities are exhausted for the foreseeable future. The rapid success and prominent investors like ex-soccer star David Beckham have raised the company's value to currently around 180 million euros.

Initially, Lunaz Design equipped classics with electric drive

For purists, it may be an affront. But in the eyes of the company founder David Lorenz, Lunaz “takes the glorious automotive past and permeates it with zero-emission powertrains to extend the lifespan of these special cars.” The company liberates exotics like the 1953 Jaguar XK120 or a 1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom V from their old combustion engines and installs battery packs (80 kWh for the Jaguar and 120 kWh for the Phantom) and self-developed electric motors with up to 375 HP. The result is cars that lose none of their classic beauty, generate far more power, and become nearly maintenance-free. However, the conversion is not cheap, starting at around 400,000 euros.

“A Tesla will never have so much style, and nobody will suspect that the silver-haired gentleman behind the wheel is actually driving a sophisticated EV sled,” reports an enthusiastic classic car customer.

And now the garbage trucks from Mercedes

“Upcycling” is the motto. Old vehicles should be reconditioned, avoid scrapping, and have a second life as electric vehicles. After converting classic cars to electric vehicles, the Brits now want to convert commercial vehicles like buses or trucks as well. The Brits first electrified a Mercedes Econic. The truck is one of the most popular vehicles worldwide for applications at construction sites, in waste collection, with fire departments and rescue services.

Just like with classic cars, the used truck undergoes a complete restoration. The vehicle is disassembled, all combustion engine components are removed and replaced with the modular drivetrain from Lunaz. The capacity of the battery pack is determined by the future application. A truck for long-distance traffic receives larger battery packs than a garbage truck, which only operates in the city center.