Nuvera Unveils State-of-the-Art Automotive Fuel Cell Products

Firm's Latest Innovative Developments Raises Bar on Efficiency, Power Density, Manufacturability for Gasoline Fuel Processors and PEM Fuel Cell Stacks for Transportation Applications

MILAN, Italy, CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 20 -- Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc., a leading designer and developer of fuel cell power systems, fuel processors, and fuel cell stacks, today announced it has dramatically improved the performance of its gasoline fuel processors and PEM fuel cell stacks for automotive applications. The achievements, cited below, mark yet another significant milestone in the international race to commercialize fuel cell vehicles.

  -- Nuvera, in conjunction with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and a
    leading European automaker, has demonstrated a 75 kW/liter gasoline
    fuel processor that exceeds all of theUS FreedomCAR goals set for 2004,
    with the exception of the 30-second starting requirement. The
    revolutionary new fuel processor, named Star(TM), is capable of
    processing up to 200 kWth of California grade gasoline at greater than
    80 percent efficiency and is designed for manufacturing. The
    combination of small-size, improved performance, and manufacturability
    makes this system uniquely suited for integration into a light-duty,
    fuel cell powered vehicle.

    To address the issue of quick-starting capability, the firm is
    demonstrating a laboratory prototype that starts in less than 60
    seconds today, which places it on target to achieve FreedomCAR's less
    than 30-second start time required by June 2004. This system, also
    funded by DOE, utilizes no electrical heaters during start up, which is
    critical to keeping drive-cycle efficiencies high.

  -- Nuvera has also gained impressive performance data from an on-road
    hybrid fuel cell vehicle demonstration with a major Italian automotive
    research organization. The vehicle prototype, which uses Nuvera's
    metallic 7 kWe direct water injection (DWI) fuel cell stack as a range
    extender, has logged more than 3,000 kilometers without incident or
    decay in performance. Utilizing metallic, DWI stacks simplifies the
    balance of plant and therefore lowers system costs, which remain a key
    market driver.

  -- Finally, Nuvera recently unveiled Andromeda(TM), its newest metallic
    bi-polar plate stack architecture,  at the 2003 Hannover Fair in Germany.
    The 75 kWe fuel cell stack, capable of operating on reformate and
    hydrogen at both high and low pressures, has a nominal power density of
    1.2 kW/liter and a peak power density of 1.5 kW/liter, which places it
    among the leaders in the industry for packaging and fuel flexibility.
    It also boasts "robust" structural design features for shock and
    vibration resistance to endure everyday automotive use.

"As a recognized world leader in small-scale, on-board fuel processing and innovative metallic stack architecture, we believe our achievements set a new standard for automotive fuel cell products," said William Mitchell, Vice President of Marketing at Nuvera Fuel Cells. "Without question, we have continued to raise the bar by which today's automakers judge the progress of fuel cell technology. It is a ongoing challenge we steadfastly embrace."

The FreedomCAR and Fuel Initiative (www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenfuel) was created to reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells. The Initiative will invest $720 million in new funding over the next 5 years to develop the technologies and infrastructure needed to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation.

Together, the FreedomCAR and Fuel Initiative, through partnerships with the private sector, develop new vehicle and fuel technologies and infrastructure needed to make it practical and cost-effective for large numbers of Americans to choose to use fuel cell vehicles by 2020.

Nuvera

Nuvera Fuel Cells (www.nuvera.com) is a leading designer and developer of fuel cellpower systems, fuel processors, and fuel cell stacks for the automotive, distributed generation, commercial, and industrial markets. Since 1992, its fuel processors and PEM fuel cellstacks have been successfully tested and evaluated by major automobile and appliance manufacturers, research institutions, telecommunications organizations, and industrial and energy companies. Nuvera's fuel processors have demonstrated the ability to extract hydrogen from a number of liquid and gaseous fuels, including gasoline, ethanol, methanol, natural gas, kerosene, propane, butane, home heating oil, and diesel.