Yahoo Finance Electric lorry maker backed by David Beckham collapses into administration
An electric vehicle (EV) start-up backed by celebrities including David Beckham and Jack Whitehall has put its commercial arm into administration, blaming the Government’s decision to delay a ban on petrol car sales.
Lunaz Group, which retrofits combustion engine vehicles with electric powertrains, on Monday confirmed it was shutting down Lunaz Applied Technologies as part of a wider overhaul.
The troubled division was focused on “upcycling” bin lorries and had secured a deal with refuse collector Biffa to electrify its fleet.
The Silverstone-based company was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur David Lorenz and former Formula 1 technical director Jon Hilton, with the business securing investment from Mr Beckham in 2021.
The former England footballer reportedly took a 10pc stake, with other investors including Mr Whitehall – who fronted promotional videos for Lunaz – and the Reuben brothers and the Barclay family, who are the current owners of The Telegraph.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, also recently visited Lunaz’s headquarters and praised it as a “world leader” in the green clean energy transition.
As well as bin lorries, Lunaz has converted a series of classic cars for customers including Aston Martins and Rolls-Royces.
As a wedding gift to his son Brooklyn, Mr Beckham paid for the company to electrify a Jaguar XK140.
On Monday a spokesman for Lunaz said it was “restructuring its business to re-scope timelines for the start of production for commercial vehicle products”, adding: “This means, the business entity ‘Lunaz Applied Technologies’ has stopped operations.”
The company blamed the Government’s decision to push back a ban of sales of new petrol cars and vans from 2030 to 2035 but said the commercial unit could resume production again “at a later date”.
The spokesman added the move meant the company could focus its attention on passenger cars.
“This restructure will ensure demand for passenger vehicles can be met while ensuring commercial vehicles can be produced once market conditions drive demand,” they said.
Separately on Monday, Fisker, the EV outfit started by James Bond car designer Henrik Fisker, said it had been forced to pause production as it sought a cash injection from investors.
Fisker announced it had paused production of its Ocean SUV cars for at least six weeks as it revealed it had just $121m (£95m) of cash left in the bank.
The US-listed company said it had accounts payable of $182m and there was “substantial doubt” it would survive without a cash injection.
Its Ocean electric SUV is aimed at the mass market, with prices starting at around £37,000, and boasts a solar panel roof, carpet made of recycled fishing nets and “vegan suede” made from bottles and t-shirts.
Mr Fisker, who oversaw the design of the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, as well as the BMW Z8 used in The World Is Not Enough, previously ran Fisker Automotive which was forced to file for bankruptcy after its battery supplier collapsed.
