Energy Conversion Devices Drives Realization of Fuel Cell Powered Vehicles

Demonstration of New Generation Alternative Energy Vehicle Proves The Hydrogen Economy is a Closer Reality; Air Quality Management District Provides Technology Incentive Funding

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., Sept. 24 -- Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) , the pioneer in hydrogen-based energy solutions, announced today that the company has received $200,280 in funding from South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) for a project which will usher in a new generation of alternative energy vehicles and a refueling infrastructure -- moving the world closer to a fully realized hydrogen economy. As part of the project, ECD Ovonics will demonstrate a fuel system that allows for portable low pressure, solid hydrogen refueling and a hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Both the dispenser and the vehicle are seen as bridging the gap toward the commercial viability of vehicles powered solely by fuel cells.

This technology will be unveiled today at Challenge Bibendum, Michelin's premier environmental vehicle event in Sonoma, Calif., with further details highlighted in an announcement released earlier today by ECD Ovonics.

AQMD's investment will provide, in part, for the integration and demonstration of an electric hybrid/hydrogen ICE vehicle and refueling method that uses metal hydrides instead of high-pressure tanks. ECD Ovonics' industry leading work is providing the bridge between current liquid and high- pressure hydrogen storage systems to a new generation of safe and reliable hydrogen ICE vehicles.

The Hydrogen ICE Vehicle - The Future of the Transportation Industry

A hydrogen ICE vehicle is an automobile that has an internal combustion engine (ICE) and runs on hydrogen rather than gasoline, making it safe, efficient and environmentally friendly. It is 25 percent more fuel-efficient than standard gasoline-powered engines. Additionally, the emissions from a hydrogen ICE vehicle, such as carbon dioxide, are nearly zero. Building on the prospect of this technology, the ECD Ovonics/AQMD project provides a clear demonstration of fueling hydrogen-to-hydrogen powered vehicles -- both internal combustion engine and fuel cell powered -- and demonstrates the viability of solid hydrogen as an effective storage medium.

"ECD Ovonics sees the realization of the infrastructure and hydrogen ICE vehicles as an important step forward in our ongoing mission to provide the enabling technologies for a hydrogen economy," said Stanford R. Ovshinsky, ECD Ovonics' co-founder, president and CEO. "In order for consumers to feel comfortable buying and using fuel cell powered vehicles, they must first have positive experiences with bridging technologies -- as represented by the hydrogen ICE vehicles. Being able to put the infrastructure in place years before anyone thought possible is a testament to the successful amount of work we have done."

The Infrastructure - The Road to the Hydrogen Economy

Within the project, ECD Ovonics' refueling station will generate hydrogen from an electrolyzer (converts water to hydrogen), which will then be stored on-site in a safe, compact, low-pressure solid form of hydrogen. The refueling dispenser and hydrogen ICE vehicle will be the result of phase one of the project.

"New low- and zero-emission technologies are the key to achieving clean air," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the AQMD. "Most of the emission reductions outlined in the 2003 Air Quality Management Plan rely on the development and commercialization of new technologies. Companies like ECD Ovonics will contribute to this goal by assisting in the development of hydrogen-based transportation."

ECD Ovonics has been a major proponent of the hydrogen economy vision since the company's founding in 1960. Based on Ovshinsky's inventions, ECD Ovonics holds the basic patents on the processes and technologies needed for the development of numerous hydrogen-based technologies ranging from Ovonic nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries to fuel cells to solar panels -- all required to turn the hydrogen economy vision into reality.

ABOUT ECD Ovonics:

ECD Ovonics is the leader in the synthesis of new materials and the development of advanced production technology and innovative products. It has invented, pioneered and developed enabling technologies in the fields of energy and information leading to new products and production processes based on amorphous, disordered and related materials. ECD Ovonics' proprietary advanced information technologies include Ovonic phase-change electrical memory, Ovonic phase-change optical memory (widely used in rewritable CD and DVD storage media) and the Ovonic Threshold Switch. The Company's portfolio of alternative energy solutions include thin-film amorphous solar cells, modules, panels and systems for generating solar electric power; NiMH batteries; hydride storage materials capable of storing hydrogen in the solid state for use as a feedstock for fuel cells or internal combustion engines or as an enhancement or replacement for any type of hydrocarbon fuel; and fuel cells. ECD Ovonics designs and builds manufacturing machinery that incorporates its proprietary production processes, maintains ongoing research and development programs to continually improve its products and develops new applications for its technologies. ECD Ovonics holds the basic patents in its fields. More information on ECD Ovonics is available on http://www.ovonic.com/ .