Commercial car electrification agency Lunaz Applied Technologies (LAT) has entered administration, with the lack of round 40 jobs.
Autocar understands the three-year-old agency, based in 2021 as an offshoot of traditional automobile electrification specialist Lunaz, has folded after failing to acquire the required funding to start manufacturing of its electrical bin lorry, dubbed the Lunaz Upcycled Electric Vehicle.
However, Lunaz retains the mental property regarding its HGV electrification course of and plans to restart the programme when the market setting is extra hospitable.
The electromodding division – identified for its zero-emission reworkings of traditional Bentleys, Jaguars and Range Rovers – stays in operation and is known to be unaffected by the transfer.
A spokesperson informed Autocar: “The Lunaz Group is presently restructuring its enterprise to rescope timelines for the beginning of manufacturing for business car merchandise. This means the enterprise entity Lunaz Applied Technologies has stopped operations.
“This choice rebalances enterprise focus to passenger vehicles, which stay in manufacturing, with order books open for [Lunaz’s] 5 engineered EV platforms.
“It is meant that engineered business car platforms will start manufacturing at a later date, in response to confirmed and anticipated delays on the legislative requirement for fleets to transition to zero-emissions autos.
“This restructure will ensure demand for passenger vehicles can be met while ensuring commercial vehicles can be produced once market conditions drive demand.”
LAT deliberate to finally be changing 1100 diesel-engined industrial autos to electrical drivetrains annually, “to meet surging demand for electrified vehicles in the run-up to the 2030 [now 2035] ban on the sale of fossil-fuelled vehicles”.
Last yr, it agreed to provide waste administration firm Biffa with 10 Upcycled Electric Vehicles, in a deal that it stated would save as much as 210 tonnes in embedded carbon.
It then agreed a provide take care of Buckinghamshire Council, with plans to ship the primary lorry final autumn.