ERC Announces New Strategy for Licensing Its Nickel-Zinc Battery and Termination of Existing License.

DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 1998--Energy Research Corporation (AMEX:ERC) announced that on April 8 it has received notification from Corning Inc. that it is ending its agreement to be the exclusive licensee for non-electrical vehicle applications of Energy Research's nickel-zinc battery technology effective in 30 days.

Corning has stated to ERC that this action is based entirely on Corning's desire to focus on its core operations and does not reflect in any way on the nickel-zinc battery technology, which has consistently met or exceeded its expected performance.

Mr. Jerry Leitman, Energy Research's CEO, said "While we would have liked to have Corning continue as a licensee, we believe that this development creates opportunities for Energy Research to earn greater license fees and royalties than we would have earned from Corning. We intend to aggressively exploit a business framework for licensing our nickel-zinc battery technology to multiple parties where we segment both by major territories like North America, Europe or Asia and by key fields of use, such as electric vehicles, bicycles and scooters, consumer electronics, power tools, computing communications and so forth. We believe this strategy will expand the global market penetration of our nickel-zinc battery technology more rapidly than with a single global partner for multiple fields of use. With the improvements in the technology that we have made, and with alliances with highly focused partners, we believe that nickel-zinc can replace nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, and lead-acid batteries in numerous applications."

"Our Chinese license partners for electric vehicles have already indicated a strong interest in using our battery technology for electric scooters and bicycles, which is a significant market since there are over 600 million bicycles in use in China. This application was formerly reserved for Corning but is now available to license to others."

"Additionally, we have received numerous inquiries from around the world for licensing our nickel-zinc batteries for various applications to which we can now respond. This interest, plus the improvements in the technology we have made in the last year, is the cause of our belief that this development will be to ERC's financial benefit."

Energy Research Corporation, located in Danbury and Torrington, Connecticut, is an internationally recognized leader in the field of electrochemical technology for electric power generation and storage. ERC is developing its Direct Fuel Cells and batteries through funding from and in cooperation with government, electric utility and major international industrial organizations.

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's expected performance, operational results and development efforts that are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and as a result of such risks and uncertainties such performance, results or developmental efforts may not be realized. These statements are made under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: interruption or cancellation of existing contracts or license agreements, uncertainties associated with development or licensing projects; and as otherwise described in the Company's 10-K's, 10-Qs and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT: Rick Teller

The Teller Group, LLP 

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