Isuzu Presents Westport Technology at Global Natural Gas Vehicle Conference

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Oct. 2, 20047, 2004--Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT) today announced that Masaki Okada, Senior Specialist, Engine Design and Development for Isuzu Motors Limited (Isuzu), has presented a technical paper entitled "The Development of High-efficiency, Ultra-low Emission CNG Vehicles" at the 9th International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles (IANGV) Conference and Exhibition in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"We have now completed our analysis of the Compressed Natural Gas Direct Injection hot surface- ignited (CNG-DI) diesel-cycle engine. Our results show that mono-fuel CNG-DI engines can be 75% cleaner than today's diesel engines and 25%-30% more energy-efficient than today's natural gas engines," announced Mr. Okada. "The CNG-DI system promises to be simple, lightweight, low-cost, reliable and durable. It also has lower noise and less vibration. Isuzu has concluded that there is good potential for commercial application of this technology."

Westport and Isuzu collaborated on technology development from 2001 to 2004 with two primary objectives: first, to improve thermal efficiency by 25% or more over the Otto cycle, and second, to achieve at least 75% lower emissions than the current ultra-low-emission vehicles. An Isuzu ELF with a 2-ton load capacity was used as the base vehicle with Westport supplying its proprietary CNG-DI fuel systems. The model vehicle participated in Michelin's Challenge Bibendum 2003 in California and won Gold Awards in the emission and fuel efficiency categories, and Silver in the vehicle noise category.

Westport's Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Michael Gallagher, said, "We want to thank Okada-san for presenting this important information to an international audience in Buenos Aires at the IANGV, which is the premier event for the natural gas industry. We are also honoured to have participated in developing such a close working partnership between our teams in Vancouver and Japan and between our two corporations over the past four years. We very much look forward to our continuing work together as we deliver the next generation vehicles to Japan next year, and enhance this path breaking clean engine technology in coming years. We would also like to thank Mr. Takashi Urata, Executive, Powertrain Engineering at Isuzu for his support for the project."

The project was completed with support from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO of Japan) and the Japan Gas Association.

The 9th IANGV takes place under the theme "Road to a better world". More than 1200 natural gas leaders, vehicle manufacturers, equipment and service suppliers, government representatives, technicians and vehicle users from around the world are attending.

Westport Innovations Inc. is a leading developer of gaseous fuel engine technologies. Its joint venture with Cummins Inc., Cummins Westport Inc., manufactures and sells a wide range of engines for commercial transportation applications such as trucks and buses. Westport has technology development alliances in place with a number of leading vehicle manufacturers, including Isuzu, Ford, MAN, and BMW to develop engines that operate using cleaner-burning fuels such as natural gas, propane, hydrogen and blended fuels such as HCNG.