CALSTART Teams Launch Five New Advanced Transportation Technology Projects.

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 1999--

Cutting-Edge Concepts in Flywheels, Electronic Motor Controllers,

Active Suspension Systems and Fuel Cells Will Be Developed in Programs With the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Five new hybrid-electric vehicle technology projects with significant potential to create cleaner transportation and bolster the economy will receive more than $2.7 million of development funding in projects created by CALSTART and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The projects will tap leading technology companies to speed development of power generation and storage, as well as other systems for low- and zero-emission transportation systems likely to become commonplace early in the next century.

"These cooperative projects between industry and DARPA continue to showcase the incredible technological prowess of companies in the West, while strengthening the region's and the nation's financial base for the future," said Michael J. Gage, president and chief executive officer of CALSTART.

"By helping create, launch and manage these projects, we speed the pace of change in cleaner, advanced transportation."

The five new project teams will focus on the following activities:

--   Trinity Flywheel Power of San Francisco will develop its flywheel
     energy-storage unit -- capable of eventually replacing chemical
     batteries in hybrid-electric vehicles -- to new performance
     levels. By reducing the weight of its internal rotor by nearly
     30 percent and operating at higher speeds, stored energy will
     increase by 50 percent, with output as high as 750 kW for 3 to
     5 seconds.

--   US Flywheel Systems of Newbury Park, Calif., will launch a
     research program to better understand flywheel-failure
     characteristics. The ability to predict internal-component
     failures may lead to the commercial viability of safe systems
     with light or nonexistent containment structures in the future.

--   Glacier Bay Inc. of San Mateo, Calif., in a joint effort with IBM
     Corp., will develop a simpler, lighter and less expensive
     controller for brushless DC motors. The new unit will greatly
     improve upon the reliability of controllers now available, and
     significantly decrease the size of complete power-system packages
     used in a variety of applications, including power assisted
     steering, brakes, coolant circulation and fuel cell air
     compression motors for electric and hybrid-electric automobiles.

--   Rod Millen Special Vehicles of Huntington Beach, Calif., will
     develop a semiactive suspension system to improve the handling
     of hybrid-electric military vehicles like the military's Joint
     Tactical Electric Vehicle (JTEV) and HMMWV. While systems have
     been developed for road use in the past, the special demands of
     off-road use have been largely ignored.

--   TPL Inc. of Albuquerque, N.M., will develop a new membrane
     material for fuel cells to eliminate one of their current
     disadvantages in transportation applications -- the need for
     gaseous, hydrogen fuel. As hydrogen is only rarely available at
     present, using a hydrogen-rich liquid fuel like methanol would
     make marketing fuel-cell-powered vehicles easier. Currently, such
     liquid fuels must be "reformed" in a specialized processor that
     extracts hydrogen for use in the fuel cell. New fuel-cell
     membrane materials would allow the use of liquid methanol
     directly in the cell, and make the refueling process similar to
     that of current vehicles.

CALSTART is an advanced-transportation technologies organization that focuses on developing new, clean technologies and solutions in transportation.

Working with private partners worldwide, CALSTART provides technology development and demonstration, industry analysis, marketing, business development and fleet implementation services. Its expertise includes electric vehicles, natural-gas vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and fuel-cell technologies.