By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--An Australian company aiming to help haulage operators cut costs and emissions by electrifying their diesel-powered trucks has made its stock-market debut after a delay driven by tariff-driven anxiety.

Shares in Janus Electric, which switches out diesel engines for engines powered by its proprietary replaceable batteries, began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday following a reverse takeover by hydrogen investor ReNu Energy.

Janus had initially expected its shares to begin trading on April 22, but it unluckily kicked off an associated equity raise on March 12, the day that the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect. Suddenly, Janus found it a lot harder to lock down funding commitments.

"You've got investors who not surprisingly will sit on the sidelines and wait to see what plays out," said Ian Campbell, Janus's chief executive. "As soon as the Trump announcement came out, at that point you knew that investors would be a bit spooked."

Janus eventually completed its raise last week, securing almost 90% of the maximum US$6.5 million it targeted. Campbell, a former banker with Citigroup, said the raise had been one of the more challenging he had been involved with.

"Quite often, it's easier to raise 200 million dollars than it is to earn 10 million," he said.

While manufacturers including China's BYD and Daimler Truck's Freightliner have produced all-electric semi-trucks, Janus says it believes it is the only company retro-fitting existing vehicles with battery technology.

In 2023, China's Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world's largest power battery maker, announced the development of swappable battery packs for incorporation into new heavy-duty trucks. CATL shares surged this week on a secondary listing in Hong Kong.

Janus raised about 8.8 million Australian dollars, equivalent to US$5.7 million, through issuing new shares priced at 20 Australian cents each. The stock was up 12.5% at A$0.225 in early trade, giving the company a market capitalization of about A$20.1 million.

Like CATL, Janus says that trucks with swappable batteries are cheaper to run than diesel trucks due to lower fuel costs and reduced maintenance. Reductions in cabin fumes, noise and vibration mean there are also fewer disruptions from driver issues, Janus CEO Campbell said.

The wear of traveling hundreds of thousands of miles a year means that semi-trucks regularly need an engine rebuild or replacement, sometimes as early as three years into their lifespan.

Instead of making its own trucks, Janus pulls out used diesel engines from existing vehicles and replaces them with an electric equivalent. The refrigerator-sized battery sits in the space vacated by the fuel tank, and can be swapped out in less than five minutes at one of the company's charging stations.

Replacing an engine can cost about US$85,000 in Australia, said co-founder Lex Forsyth, Janus's chief operating officer.

Janus charges about US$110,000 for an electric conversion, but says customers will recoup the cost within as little as eight months due to lower running costs and reduced downtime for things like oil changes.

"We're not a truck manufacturer and we don't we don't want to be a truck manufacturer," Forsyth said. "We are more of an energy and infrastructure business, and the trucks are mechanism to use the energy."

Janus is primarily focused on growth in Australia, where transport is the third-largest producer of greenhouse-gas emissions. However, it has already signed its first U.S. customer and is looking to license its technology with global partners.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2025 20:38 ET (00:38 GMT)

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