Ener1 Earns Prestigious R&D 100 Award for Innovative Hybrid/Electric Vehicle Battery Technology

Shares 'Oscar of Innovation' Honor with Argonne Nat'l Lab

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 17 -- Ener1, Inc. (AMEX:HEV) , maker of advanced battery technology to power the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles, announced today that it has received the prestigious R&D 100 award for excellence in its technology and innovative design. The award is shared by Ener1 and its research partner, the U.S. Department of Energy and University of Chicago's Argonne National Laboratory.

Ener1 develops and manufactures compact, high performance lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for advanced automotive applications based on technology originally pioneered by Argonne researchers. Demand for cost effective battery solutions is being driven by a need to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports and the growing concern about vehicle emissions.

Dubbed the 'Oscars of Innovation' by the Chicago Tribune, the R&D 100 awards were introduced by R&D magazine in 1964 to certify products across all platforms of technology throughout the world, deemed to demonstrate outstanding innovation in terms of research and development. The R&D 100 award provides a mark of excellence recognized by industry and academia.

"The R&D 100 has a long history of recognizing the next generation of predominant technologies," commented Ener1 Chairman, Charles Gassenheimer. "The global market for clean, cost-effective solutions to meet the transportation needs of an increasingly energy-constrained world is exploding today. Advanced battery technologies are going to be a very big part of that future. Argonne National Labs has been an invaluable strategic partner in the development and testing of this technology, which we strongly believe will revolutionize the automobile industry as we know it today."

The Ener1 battery has unique characteristics in terms of chemistry and cell design, which gave rise to the nomination. Their lithium-ion battery is on schedule to be integrated into an electric vehicle for commercial production at the end of this year.

Over the years, the R&D 100 Awards have recognized winning products with such household names as Polacolor film (1963), the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the printer (1986), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), lab on a chip (1996), and HDTV (1998).

About Ener1, Inc.

Ener1, Inc. (AMEX:HEV) is an energy storage solutions company that is developing and commercializing advanced, high-performance safe lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in HEVs (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Ener1 is also developing commercial fuel cell products through its EnerFuel subsidiary and nanotechnology-based materials and manufacturing processes for batteries and other applications through its NanoEner subsidiary.