Astris Energi Joint Venture Partner Acquires HPower Canadian Fuel Cell Production Facility

    MISSISSAUGA, Ontario--April 2, 2003--Astris Energi Inc. (OTCBB:ASRNF) announced today that its joint venture partner, CareAction, Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, has acquired the multi-million-dollar fuel cell laboratory and production facility in Montreal, which was formerly owned and operated by HPower Corporation of Englewood, NJ.
    This nearly new world-class 28,000-square-foot plant became available as a result of the recent acquisition of HPower by Plug Power, Inc. Most of its experienced technical and operations personnel have become available as well. The facility will be operated by the joint venture -- Astris Transportation Systems, Inc. (ATSI) -- and is expected to be the first volume manufacturer of alkaline fuel cells in the world.
    According to F. Lynnwood Farr, president and CEO of both ATSI and CareAction, securing this attractive, fully-equipped plant will greatly advance the venture's fuel cell production schedule. Initial output of the plant will be concentrated on alkaline fuel cell power plants for small vehjcles, the first of which will be the ZENN (Zero Emission, No Noise) mini-car scheduled to roll out before the end of this year.
    The HPower facility had been developing and manufacturing fuel cells based on Proton Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) technology. Fortunately, much of the plant's laboratory and test equipment is common to both PEM and alkaline fuel cells.
    Due to the valuable nature of this acquisition, and the extra effort and funding which had to be allocated by CareActiion to the negotiation and consummation of the transaction with HPower, Mr. Farr has requested that the formal closing of the joint venture be extended to May 2, 2003.
    During this interim period, Mr. Farr said, the joint venture expects to finalize several strategic partnerships presently under negotiation with major international companies as well as pursue prospective big-name customers for ATSI and Astris products.
    The Astris-CareAction joint venture combines Astris's advanced alkaline fuel cell technology with the financial and management resources of CareAction, whose officers have many years of executive experience with major companies, including General Dynamics, Canadair, Vickers Shipbuilding and Textron. The venture has also been assured of strong governmental support from the Province of Quebec.

    NOTE: Any statements in this release that are not statements of fact may be considered "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Federal security laws. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual events or results.