The bulking, 32-ton autonomous and electric bulldozer tooling around San Francisco’s Presidio neighborhood early Wednesday drew its share of bewildered gawkers.
That’s saying something in a city filled with driverless Waymos. But the sleek MoonLander, which creator Lumina calls the world’s first electric, autonomous bulldozer is a fully operational machine in use that could quite possibly upend the $120 billion excavation industry.
“MoonLander is to construction what the Tesla Roadster was to transportation—proof that electric machines can outperform their legacy counterparts,” Lumina CEO Ahmed Shubber said, announcing the product. “We built this company to solve real problems: rising fuel costs, skilled labor shortages, and the need to decarbonize. This is the next generation of job site equipment—smarter, cleaner, and engineered to deliver a step-change in margins.”
The early-morning demonstration and video showcased Lumina’s bid as a new force in infrastructure and heavy equipment, where electrification, autonomy, and intelligent design converge to slash costs and carbon while boosting contractor profits.
MoonLander is the first in what Lumina envisions as a family of platforms that will include the forthcoming BladeRunner and RoadRunner bulldozers that are optimized for 90% of job site applications.
Engineered to replace diesel-era dozers with a smarter, cleaner alternative, MoonLander slashes fuel and maintenance costs by more than 65%, annual CO₂ emissions by more than 75%, and reduces charging to 80% in just 29 minutes, according to Lumina. The dozer — which comes with a 414kWh-battery, 750-horsepower peak output, and next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) integration — lasts up to three times longer than traditional equipment and operates autonomously.
MoonLander was conceived and designed in-house by a team of veterans from McLaren, Rivian, Aston Martin and Caterpillar. Lumina says it costs one-third as much to run as a diesel dozer, and lasts twice as long.
“We started with a blank slate and one question: how good could a dozer be if you designed it like a world-class EV?” said David Wright, head of operations at Lumina. “Everything from the thermal system to the hydraulic interface was designed for peak performance, serviceability, and future-proof autonomy.”
Lumina is banking its fleet of autonomous bulldozers will revolutionize a $120 billion excavation industry that has remained largely unchanged for decades. Fuel and maintenance costs account for up to 40% of job site budgets, while skilled labor shortages are dragging down timelines and margins. MoonLander is engineered to triple net margins for contractors, from an average of 5% to 10% now to as much as more than 30%.
“Lumina has what it takes to lead a generational shift in industrial technology: incredible hardware, cheaper operating costs, and a team built for execution,” said Jeff Clavier, founding partner at Uncork Capital, which participated in an $8.1 million seed round. “The electrification of consumer transport was just the first wave, and an overhaul of the construction industry is next.”
