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BAT and Toyota Work to Prepare SuperCar for more Tests

19 August 1998

Toyota Prius Develops Problem; Round the Clock International Effort to Fix It; Run Has Been Delayed for Several Hours; BAT's SuperCar Completes Initial Test Trial

    BURBANK, Calif., Aug. 19 -- BAT International's
(OTC Bulletin Board: BAAT) field trial to demonstrate the most fuel efficient
vehicles in the world has been delayed several hours due to problems with the
Toyota hybrid electric vehicle, the Prius.  The BAT SuperCar has completed
several warm up runs and certifiers clocked speeds in excess of 70 miles per
hour (BAT Supercar top speed is limited by a governor to 72 mph).
    A global effort to fix the Toyota Prius has been underway since yesterday
evening, when the hybrid electric vehicle ran into a problem on a test run.
BAT has been working with Toyota dealers in Japan and volunteer Japanese
interpreters to try and pinpoint and repair the problem.  It has been
necessary to work directly with Japan because this is the one of the first
times the Toyota Prius has been driven in the U.S. and this is one of the only
Toyota Prius vehicles in the USA.  Toyota dealers in Japan have been very
helpful in working with BAT to try and troubleshoot the problem. The
certification teams from both the University of California, Institute of
Transportation Studies and U. of California, Riverside College of Engineering
have also provided assistance.
    BAT anticipates the problem with the Toyota Prius will be fixed in the
next several hours.  BAT will run a fuel economy field test sometime today at
a constant speed of  50 and 60 miles per hour, regardless of the results of
efforts to fix the Toyota Prius.  However, the timing of the run will be
delayed as long as possible to provide time to repair the Toyota Prius.   In
the event the Toyota Prius is not repaired today, BAT will repeat the field
trial sometime next week.
    For up to date information on what is occurring at the track, please visit
the BAT SuperCar web site at http://www.batsupercar.com.   If you do not have a
computer and need to reach us at the track, please call (909) 429-5072.  If
you want information on BAT International, see BAT's web site http://www.baat.com. or
call Cheryl Mitchell (360) 384-2730.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements that should not be
used to make an investment decision.  Please refer to our web site at
http://www.baat.com and other sources for more detailed Company information or call
Cheryl Mitchell (360) 384-2730.