Electric Scooter Road Test; Evercel Patented Nickel-Zinc vs. Lead Acid.

DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 1999--

Evercel, Inc (NASDAQ: EVRC) is pleased to announce that its manufacturing partner, Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd. has successfully completed a road test comparing Evercel's innovative nickel-zinc battery to an equivalent size lead-acid battery. The test was designed to determine the total lifetime range of both the nickel-zinc and lead-acid batteries in a side-by-side simulation test according to the Taiwanese Government's ECE-40B testing standard. The total life distance achieved by the Ni-Zn equipped scooter was twice the total life distance of the lead-acid alternative.

Taiwan Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd., one of the major scooter manufacturers in Taiwan, conducted the test. Mr. James Lin, vice-chief researcher of Sanyang, commented, "I am satisfied with the high performance of the Ni-Zn battery, especially in practical usage. It proved the Ni-Zn battery is an attractive alternative to the SLA battery currently used in electric scooters."

Evercel believes that these positive test results have placed Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd., in a very competitive position in Taiwan's electric scooter battery market. According to Taiwan's major scooter manufacturers, electric scooter sales are expected to reach 50,000 kWh or 33,333 average scooter packs by the year 2000. Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd., a joint venture located in Xiamen, China in which Evercel holds the majority share, produces the Ni-Zn batteries under a license agreement with Evercel for use in scooters, electric bicycles, three-wheel vehicles, off-road vehicles and miner's safety lamps on an exclusive basis in China (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao) and on a non-exclusive basis in Southeast Asia.

The Taiwanese government supports the manufacture of electric scooters. The Taiwanese government has passed a regulation that 2% of every custom scooter manufacturer's output in the year 2000 must be electrically powered. In addition, according to Taiwanese government policy, electric scooter manufacturers may apply for a government incentive, varying from $163 to $1,337 per scooter, contingent upon scooter performance, which in turn is dependant upon battery life performance. To establish the authorized government incentive, Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd. has requested a government test of Evercel's nickel-zinc battery by the Taiwan Energy & Research Laboratory, which is commissioned by the Taiwan Department of Environment to conduct all official government battery testing.

In addition to Sanyang, Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd. has also signed Joint Test Agreements with three additional scooter manufacturers in Taiwan, including Kymco, Shangwei, and Jinsingfa which all share a majority of the Taiwanese electric scooter market. Evercel believes that these agreements with Taiwan's electric scooter manufacturers, coupled with the start of production from the Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd.'s Xiamen facility, positions Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp., Ltd. to become a major electric scooter battery supplier for the Taiwanese and Far Eastern scooter markets.

Evercel, Inc., located in Danbury, Connecticut, is a leader in the field of high-performance battery technology. The Company is engaged in the commercialization of an innovative, patented, nickel-zinc rechargeable battery, as well as the research and design of other advanced battery technologies. The Company's nickel-zinc battery has been used on a limited basis in a range of rechargeable battery applications, including bicycles, scooters, electric vehicles, trolling motors for boats, lawn mowers, electric wheelchairs and golf carts.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Evercel's plans and expectations regarding the commercialization of its battery technology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause such a difference include, without limitation, the risk that Evercel will not initiate volume manufacturing or commercial sales as currently anticipated, the risk that Evercel's nickel-zinc battery will not perform as projected when produced in volume or that the cost of volume manufacturing exceeds Evercel's estimates, general risks associated with doing business in China, product development, manufacturing and introduction, rapid technological change, and competition, unanticipated costs and expenses or other events affecting Evercel's business, as well as other risks set forth in Evercel's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release. Evercel expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in Evercel's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.