Gentherm Awarded Contract Expansion From U.S. Department of Energy to Develop Thermoelectric-Based Energy Recovery System and Improve Heavy Vehicle Fuel Efficiency

NORTHVILLE, Mich., Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gentherm (NASDAQ-GS: THRM), the global market leader and a developer of innovative thermal management technologies, today announced that it has received a $1.55 million contract modification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to apply the technology in its innovative thermoelectric generator (TEG) for passenger cars to a similar program for heavy vehicles. The TEG technology, which converts waste heat from gas exhaust into electric energy and has the potential to improve passenger car fuel efficiency by as much as 5 percent, was featured in Car and Driver as one of 2012's 10 most promising future technologies.

The grant is an add-on to the $8 million award from the DOE in August 2011 for converting thermoelectric heat to power for passenger cars and extends the technology to heavy military vehicles.  With the addition of this project, Gentherm adds the U.S. Army Tank Automotive, Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to its passenger car key partners Ford and BMW.

The project, to be completed by early 2015, will scale up the passenger car TEG and integrate it with a 15-liter diesel engine to provide fuel economy improvement and auxiliary power for combat vehicles.

This add-on leverages the existing program technology to large diesel engines, providing a new tool for military heavy vehicles, Class 8 trucks, marine and industrial power generating equipment.

President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel R. Coker said utilizing thermoelectric heat to power to achieve improvement in energy efficiency has always been among Gentherm's goals in its far-reaching development of thermoelectric technology.

"We believe our thermoelectric technology will demonstrate important advances in energy efficiency in heavy vehicles, while providing a source of ignition-off auxiliary power, helping to support the Army's mission while establishing an important tool for other large diesel power plants," Coker added.

"Over the last several years, we have worked very closely with the Department of Energy and our other partners in the development of a fully functional thermoelectric generator," Coker said. "We believe we can build on our recent technical achievement of delivering to BMW and Ford working prototypes of the generator that are currently producing a significant amount of electricity.  With this additional funding from the DOE, Gentherm and our partners will begin to address the manufacturability and commercialization of this potentially breakthrough technology for heavy vehicles as well as passenger cars."

Gentherm is the world's largest supplier of thermoelectric technologies in the global automotive market and a leader in the conversion of waste heat into electric power in automobiles. Gentherm began working on a second DOE-funded thermoelectric heat to power project in 2011 and is leading a multi-phase project to commercialize a system for waste heat recovery in passenger vehicles.

Gentherm is best known globally for its Climate Control Seat® System that uses thermoelectric technology to actively heat and cool seats in vehicles made by the world's leading automotive manufacturers.

About Gentherm

Gentherm (NASDAQ-GS:THRM) is a global developer and marketer of innovative thermal management technologies for a broad range of heating and cooling and temperature control applications. Automotive products include actively heated and cooled seat systems and cup holders, heated and ventilated seat systems, thermal storage bins, heated seat and steering wheel systems, cable systems and other electronic devices.  The Company's advanced technology team is developing more efficient materials for thermoelectrics and systems for waste heat recovery and electrical power generation for the automotive market that may have far-reaching applications for consumer products as well as industrial and technology markets.  Gentherm has more than 5,000 employees in facilities in the U.S., Germany, Mexico, China, Canada, Japan, England, Korea, Malta, Hungary and the Ukraine.  For more information, go to www.gentherm.com.

Certain matters discussed in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may be different.  Important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from its expectations in this release are risks that sales may not significantly increase, additional financing, if necessary, may not be available, new competitors may arise and adverse conditions in the automotive industry may negatively affect its results.  The liquidity and trading price of its common stock may be negatively affected by these and other factors.  Please also refer to Gentherm's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and reports, including, but not limited to, its Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2012, and its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011; all of which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Gentherm expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Gentherm