Axion Power Receives Additional Purchase Order From ePower Engine Systems to Supply PbC® Batteries and Battery Management Systems For Class 8 Heavy-Duty Trucks

NEW CASTLE, Pa., July 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Axion Power International, Inc. (OTC QB: AXPW), the developer of advanced lead­-carbon PbC® batteries and energy storage systems, today announced it has received an order from privately held ePower Engine Systems LLC, headquartered in Florence KY. The order is for PbC batteries and management systems required to convert ten (10) Class 8 trucks from standard internal combustion engines (ICE) to 'series diesel electric hybrid drive train systems' utilizing ePower's proprietary technology (the 'System'). The purchase order is an extension of the existing agreement between Axion and ePower and further validates the performance of the PbC batteries in this hybrid application. At ePower's current specifications, each conversion kit System would require 56 PbC batteries and the PbC battery management system (BMS).  Axion values each truck conversion battery order at in excess of $20,000.00. 

The companies are concurrently negotiating a long term agreement for Axion PbC batteries and BMS for System conversion kits, that will be marketed by ePower to fleets, trucking firms and OEMs that are in the business of retrofitting Class 8 trucks and beyond. The agreement being negotiated would have minimums in order to retain pricing and sector exclusivity.  Axion is free to market PbC batteries and technologies without restriction, except for the 'series' hybrid market, under the agreement being negotiated.

Axion Chairman & CEO Thomas Granville commented, "The heavy trucking industry is a huge and unserved market when it comes to significantly improving miles per gallon of diesel fuel at affordable cost.  Diesel fuel is the largest variable cost in trucking, with Class 8 trucks alone consuming more than 19 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually. With the current average mpg for these trucks being in the range of 6, each additional mpg is a huge percentage improvement that translates into proportional fuel dollar savings and emissions reductions.  ePower testing to date, with PbC batteries, indicates significant savings immediately, with dramatic savings potential going forward. While our experience in the field is limited, we have not seen another system that even suggests they could bring the positive effect that ePower systems have on mileage enhancement and emissions reduction." 

Granville emphasized that the PbC batteries and BMS for ePower conversion System kits are not related to the PbC-based stop-start micro-hybridization technology that Axion has developed and tested for automotive vehicles; nor is it related to the PbC-based APU systems to run ancillary loads that enable long-run truckers to sleep in their cabs without idling their engines. 

ePower Chief Technology Officer Jay Bowman commented, "Axion Power PbC batteries are ideally suited to our hybridization because of their ability not only to discharge quickly, but also to recharge quickly utilizing regenerative braking and the truck's own power generation system. Our testing has been going very well, so we felt it important to get this order booked now. The PbC battery's ability to endure thousands of cycles without the loss of charge acceptance, and its ability to continually self equalize the state of charge in string applications, are tremendous advantages that clearly distinguish these batteries from their competition. These advantages, and others that the PbC battery brings to the equation, allow our ePower conversion System to achieve a very attractive ROI. We are very close to concluding our long term supply agreement with Axion and we look forward to successfully marketing our product with them in the years to come."

He also pointed out that PbC batteries are fully recycled more than 99% of the time and have value at the end of life, unlike some of the more exotic types of batteries that are being used in electric and hybrid automobiles.

About Axion Power International, Inc.

Axion has developed and patented a next generation energy storage device that won the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Technology Award for North America in the field of lead-acid batteries. According to Frost & Sullivan, Axion's new PbC® batteries have "the potential to revitalize the lead-acid battery industry by breathing new life into an established technology that has not been well suited to the requirements of important new applications like hybrid electric vehicles and renewable power."

Axion Power International, Inc. is the industry leader in the field of lead-carbon energy storage technologies. Axion believes its new PbC battery technology is the only class of advanced battery that can be assembled on existing lead-acid battery production lines throughout the world utilizing Axion's proprietary activated carbon electrodes. Axion's future goal, after filling their plant's lead-carbon battery production capacity, is to become the leading supplier of carbon electrode assemblies for the global lead-acid battery industry.

For more information, visit www.axionpower.com

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this Press Release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include the risk for the Company to complete its development work, as well as the risks inherent in commercializing a new product (including technology risks, market risks, financial risks and implementation risks, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the Company), as well as other risks that have been included in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available at www.sec.gov. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, financial estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contacts:

Axion Power International, Inc.
Thomas Granville, CEO
(724) 654 9300

Allen & Caron, Inc.
Rudy Barrio (Investors)
[email protected]
(212) 691-8087

Len Hall (Media)
[email protected] 
(949) 474-4300

SOURCE Axion Power International, Inc.