China's Largest Bus Manufacturer Selects Maxwell Technologies' Ultracapacitors for Fuel-Efficient, Low-Emission, Hybrid Drive System

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Maxwell Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXWL) announced today that Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. (Yutong), China's largest bus manufacturer, has selected Maxwell ultracapacitors for energy storage and power delivery in fuel-efficient, low-emission, diesel-electric hybrid buses that Yutong is producing for public transit agencies worldwide.

Yutong's hybrid drive system incorporates 16 of Maxwell's 48-volt ultracapacitor modules to support braking energy recuperation and torque assist functions that enable hybrid transit buses to achieve fuel savings and CO2 emission reduction of approximately 25 percent and reduce particulate emissions by up to 90 percent compared with conventional diesel buses.

"Ultracapacitors' ability to charge and discharge rapidly enables them to efficiently capture regenerative braking energy and provide instant power for acceleration," said Wang Feng, Yutong's overseas marketing director. "In addition, their long operational life and minimal maintenance requirements in demanding public transit operating conditions make ultracapacitors a very cost-effective energy storage solution for hybrid buses."

"Yutong has developed an innovative hybrid drive system for efficient, environmentally friendly, transit buses and other heavy vehicles," said David Schramm, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer. "This opportunity to work closely with a world leader in transportation technology is helping us to better understand the requirements of hybrid-electric vehicles and continue optimizing our products to deliver world-class performance and value."

Maxwell ultracapacitors are powering some 4,000 hybrid transit buses currently in service worldwide, and are being employed in several other transportation applications, including a stop-start idle elimination system developed by Continental AG for micro hybrid diesel automobiles now being produced by PSA Peugeot Citroen in Europe.  

Unlike batteries, which produce and store energy by means of a chemical reaction, ultracapacitors store energy in an electric field. This electrostatic energy storage mechanism enables ultracapacitors to charge and discharge in as little as fractions of a second, perform normally over a broad temperature range (-40 to +65 degrees Celsius), operate reliably through one million or more charge/discharge cycles and resist shock and vibration. Maxwell offers ultracapacitor cells ranging in capacitance from one to 3,000 farads and multi-cell modules ranging from 16 to 125 volts. For more information on Maxwell's ultracapacitor products please visit our web site, Maxwell.com.

About Yutong: Headquartered in the city of Zhengzhou in China's Henan Province, Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd. is a major industrial group mainly specializing in bus production. It is one of China's top 500 enterprises, with additional strategic business activities, including construction machinery, automotive parts and components and real estate. Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd., the core enterprise of Yutong Group, was established in 1963, and now is located in Zhengzhou Yutong Industrial Park in a 1.12 million square-meter facility with a daily production capacity of over 170 buses. It has become one of the world's largest and the most technically advanced manufacturers of large and medium-sized buses and is China's largest producer of medium and heavy buses.

About Maxwell: Maxwell is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative, cost-effective energy storage and power delivery solutions. Our ultracapacitor cells and multi-cell modules provide safe and reliable power solutions for applications in consumer and industrial electronics, transportation and telecommunications. Our high-voltage grading and coupling capacitors help to ensure the safety and reliability of electric utility infrastructure and other applications involving transport, distribution and measurement of high-voltage electrical energy. Our radiation-mitigated microelectronic products include power modules, memory modules and single board computers that incorporate powerful commercial silicon for superior performance and high reliability in aerospace applications. For more information, please visit our website: www.maxwell.com.

SOURCE Maxwell Technologies, Inc.