Hybrid Buses Equipped With Electrosource Batteries Complete Test

21 January 2000

Hybrid Buses Equipped With Electrosource Batteries Successfully Complete Year-Long Revenue-Service Tests in New York City's Manhattan District

    SAN MARCOS, Texas--Jan. 21, 2000--Electrosource Inc. announced today it has successfully completed a year-long revenue-service demonstration in hybrid-electric buses equipped with Electrosource batteries.
    Five Orion VI hybrid electric buses powered with Lockheed Martin's HybriDrive(tm) propulsion system have logged over 80,000 miles of daily revenue service during calendar year 1999. The daily service schedule required the buses to operate up to 18 hours per day, seven days per week, primarily in New York City's congested Manhattan business district. The successful demonstration is the culmination of over three years of cooperative development with Lockheed Martin and Orion Bus Industries of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
    Still in daily revenue service, each of the buses uses a high-voltage string of Electrosource 12 Volt-85 Amp Hour batteries to boost the constant-speed diesel-engine acceleration power, and to assist the bus braking system by absorbing kinetic energy through electrical regeneration.
    Electrosource Inc. CEO, Benny E. Jay, said, "Successful completion of this year-long revenue-service demonstration is a major milestone for the Company. We continue to support the daily service of these buses in Manhattan and look forward to additional opportunities in this exciting and superior, alternative mode of urban mass-transit."
    Commenting on the project, Lockheed Martin's Hybrid Electric Vehicle program manager, Bill Schuhle, stated, "According to tests performed by an EPA-approved lab, the Orion VI 40-foot transit bus powered by Lockheed Martin's HybriDrive(tm) propulsion system produces significantly less hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide than buses fueled by compressed natural gas -- while producing comparable amounts of particulate matter and nitrous oxide and delivering over a 50% improvement in fuel economy."
    Schuhle continued, "The combination of battery and diesel-engine power enables the hybrid bus to operate with greater total energy efficiency and significantly lower emissions than is possible with conventionally powered buses. Battery performance and reliability are critically important to realizing the advantages provided by the hybrid drive-train. The Electrosource battery technology has performed admirably in the new and demanding environment of hybrid propulsion."
    The Manhattan Transit Authority (MTA) of New York City, New York, has placed the first large-scale order for the new-technology buses. With deliveries beginning in 2001, MTA's 125-bus order will be built by Orion Bus Industries of Mississauga, Ontario, using the Lockheed Martin hybrid electric drive train.
    Electrosource Inc. develops and manufactures lightweight, intelligent batteries for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, engine-starting and telecommunication stand-by power applications. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at its Web site www.electrosource.com.

    This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this release. Risks include financial risks, development risks, manufacturing risks, uncertainty of market acceptance, delay in shipment or cancellation of orders, customer reorganization, as well as other risks that are detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

    For further information, contact B. E. Jay at 512/753-6525.