We don’t need to scrap vehicles re-use, remanufacture and upcycle them!

David Lorenz, CEO, of vehicle electrification company Lunaz, spoke to Electric Home about his hope that COP27 with make people have a more sustainable mindset, especially with transportation and mobility.

When you look at the COP27 coverage, new regulations and potential solutions being offered, I urge you, wherever you are, whatever area in the [automotive] industry you work in, to look at ways that we can reduce the actual raw materials for these new transport solutions being offered. The more raw materials, the more carbon we use, the less likely we are to recover from the environmental impact we’ve caused to-date by scrapping previously manufactured cars, trucks and other fleet vehicles.

“This year’s COP27 summit marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It goes to show that the need for greener, and better, solutions have been a pressing issue for a long time and will become more crucial in the (near) future. Planning for the future is great, but there is an urgent need for implementation now that we simply cannot afford to postpone any longer. Why wait to manufacture brand new systems? Why not reuse what we have already and swap out their fossil fuelled engines with cleaner, zero-emission electric powertrains, right now?

“I believe that the most sustainable vehicle is the one that already exists, which is then upcycled to run on electric power. In fact, it’s our vision at Lunaz, focusing on upcycling vehicles to plot a more sustainable path to a decarbonised future. We launched the Upcycled Electric Vehicle (UEV) programme within our Lunaz Applied Technologies arm a few years ago as a direct response. Starting with a bin lorry, we remanufacture it to remove the diesel engine, swapping to a more environmentally-friendly Lunaz electric powertrain, and at the same time upgrade the cabin to be safer and more ergonomic for the driver.

“If we can upcycle bin lorries, imagine what other transportation methods could benefit from this ethos? The remanufactured and upgraded refuse trucks we’ve started with [Lunaz plans to create more UEVs under different platforms] harness the power of upcycling as they are cleaner, cheaper, and better equipped than an all-new battery electric alternative could ever be. When we hired an independent audit, our upcycled refuse truck was proven to save more than 80 per cent of the embedded carbon compared to manufacturing from scratch.

“We’re very happy to contribute one element of such a vast infrastructure [which is the waste management infrastructure] and demonstrate how much it helps local authorities and fleet operators in their goals towards reaching net-zero emissions.”