David Beckham invests in UK electric vehicle company Lunaz
The football star that loves cars has put his money where his mouth is and has become the latest big-name investor in a fast-growing technology company.British technology startup Lunaz upcycles and converts vehicles that run on traditional petrol and diesel internal combustion engines to its proprietary electric powertrain. It has announced that as part of its ambitious new growth plans a group of new strategic investors have come on board, including nonother than David Beckham. Becks is no stranger to cars, being the face of Vietnamese start-up Vinfast as well as being the latest brand ambassador for Maserati.
Through his investment arm, Beckham has successfully backed fast-growth start-ups in sectors as diverse as eSports and athletic recovery products. He now has a 10% stake in the electric car converter company.
"Lunaz represents the very best of British ingenuity in both technology and design. I was drawn to the company through their work restoring some of the most beautiful classic cars through upcycling and electrification. David Lorenz and his team of world-class engineers are building something very special and I look forward to being part of their growth."
Lunaz Design was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur David Lorenz and triple F1 World Championship winning Technical Director Jon Hilton. Since then it has made a name for itself as a global leader in vehicle electrification with its work in converting the most celebrated classic cars in history to electric.
They were the first to market the world’s first fully electric Range Rover, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar sports cars through its Lunaz Design brand. Prices for some of these electrified classics start from £245,000 ($451,207 AUD) for an electrified Range Rover Classic. While an electrified Rolls-Royce Phantom V starts at £500,000 ($920,832 AUD).
Following the news of the cash injection from Becks and others, Lunaz is embarking on an ambitious plan to upcycle and electrify industrial vehicles on a mass scale. Lunaz will begin with rubbish trucks, of which 80 million currently exist in the UK, EU and USA alone.
Lunaz remanufacturing and electrification process can extend the life of up to 70% of the existing weight and embedded carbon within a vehicle. It also saves fleet operators significant costs compared with replacing existing vehicles with new ones.
By 2030 when internal combustion engine bans in major markets come into effect, more than 2 billion conventionally powered vehicles will exist on the planet. Remanufacturing, upcycling and electrification can prevent a large proportion of these vehicles from being scrapped.
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