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Arotech Electric Bus
Runs Successfully on Commercial Zinc
Achieves range similar to that
achieved with original proprietary zinc
November
1, 2004 - Arotech Corporation (NasdaqNM: ARTX) announced today
that a test drive conducted with its all-electric hybrid bus using
commercially available zinc demonstrated performance similar to
that achieved with the proprietary dendritic zinc used to date.
Corroborating lab results, the bus achieved a range of 133 miles
on a simulated city-cycle drive, similar to the range achieved a
year ago in a similar test with the proprietary zinc. The system’s
efficiency has been improved as well.
Arotech’s Electric Vehicle
Division has developed technology that will allow its zinc-air batteries
to use commercially available zinc, eliminating the need for the
special zinc used to date. Arotech’s technological breakthrough
for utilizing readily available zinc is expected to boost commercialization
plans for the zinc-air hybrid bus, which until now required heavy
investments in zinc producing infrastructure.
“Rising fuel prices increase
the chances of this technology becoming a reality”, said Robert
S. Ehrlich, Arotech Chairman and CEO. “We are now investigating
ways to capitalize on this new breakthrough technology.”
About the Electric Fuel Bus
The electric bus is powered by
Arotech’s Electric Fuel zinc air technology. Coupled with
a pack of advanced ultra capacitors and an energy management system,
the hybrid all electric bus has zero tailpipe emissions. An urban
transit fleet based the Electric Fuel bus will not only improve
the quality of the air – it will also help national security
by reducing the dependence on imported fuel.
In recent tests the bus traveled
130-145 miles under typical city bus driving conditions, including
stop and go, acceleration and constant speed. The average normal
full day cycle for New York City buses is less than 90 miles. The
Company believes that all-electric buses utilizing Electric Fuel's
Zinc-Air technology have sufficient range to offer a practical alternative
to diesel-powered buses.
The Electric Fuel All Electric
Transit Bus is designed to operate as a full-size, zero emission
40-foot bus having a 20-ton gross vehicle weight (including passengers)
and operating all standard bus features, including air conditioning.
About Arotech Corporation
Arotech Corporation (www.arotech.com)
provides quality defense and security products for the military,
law enforcement and homeland security markets, including advanced
zinc-air and lithium batteries and chargers, multimedia interactive
simulators/trainers and lightweight armoring.
The Battery and Power Systems Division
includes Electric Fuel Battery Corporation and Epsilor Electronic
Industries Ltd. The Simulation, Training and Consulting Division
includes IES Interactive Training, FAAC Incorporated and Arocon
Security Consulting. The Armoring Division includes MDT Armor Corp.,
MDT Protective Industries Ltd. and Armour of America, Incorporated.
Arotech is incorporated in Delaware,
with corporate offices in New York, and research, development and
production subsidiaries in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, California
and Israel.
Except for the historical information herein,
the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking
statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, as they are subject to various
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary significantly.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks
relating to: product and technology development; the uncertainty
of the market for Arotech’s products; changing economic conditions;
delay, cancellation or non-renewal, in whole or in part, of contracts
or of purchase orders; and other risk factors detailed in Arotech’s
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2003 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Arotech assumes no obligation to update the information
in this release. Reference to the Company’s website above
does not constitute incorporation of any of the information thereon
into this press release.
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