EnerDel with ITOCHU, Family Mart, Mazda and Other Leaders Unveil Pioneering Automotive-to-Smart Grid Integration Project in Japan

EnerDel with ITOCHU, Family Mart, Mazda and Other Leaders Unveil
Pioneering Automotive-to-Smart Grid Integration Project in Japan

Lithium-Ion Battery Maker Supplies Energy Systems for First Real-World
Combination of Electric Cars, Stationary Grid Storage and Renewable
Energy

PR Newswire — May 12, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS May 12 /PRNewswire/ — American lithium-ion battery producer
EnerDel joined forces today with the Japanese industrial trading giant ITOCHU
Corporation to unveil a groundbreaking new project that showcases a real-world
integration of the smart grid, electric vehicles and renewable energy
technologies. EnerDel is supplying the advanced battery systems at the heart of
the project, marking the first time that EVs, stationary grid storage, solar
power and rapid re-charging infrastructure are combined in a real-world
operating environment.

The project–located outside Tokyo in Tsukuba City, Japan, a major center for
scientific R&D –involves a partnership between more than a dozen pioneering
leaders from around the globe and demonstrates EnerDel’s expertise in the global
clean tech marketplace. It serves as an exhibition of a highly advanced direct
current rapid recharge system, as well as a secondary use model for fixed
in-vehicle batteries. The project is designed to showcase the valuable afterlife
batteries can have in stationary grid applications once they are cycled through
their useful vehicular lifespan, where operating parameters are much less
taxing. A viable battery aftermarket would significantly lower costs for both
automotive and utility buyers.

“The integration of rapid charging, smart grid and electric vehicles is a
crucial step in the transition to clean, efficient, low-carbon energy and
transportation systems, and something that countries all over the world are
moving toward,” said Charles Gassenheimer, Chairman and CEO of EnerDel parent
company Ener1, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEV). “This project also demonstrates how critical
a secondary-use strategy is in unlocking economic value that becomes a key
driver for the EV battery industry.”

“EnerDel’s top quality battery systems provide a robust platform for
rapid-recharge,” said Murase Hiroaki, Deputy Manager Battery Business Unit of
ITOCHU Corporation. “Partnering with industry leaders like EnerDel, Family Mart
and Mazda is an important step forward in the widespread adoption of electric
vehicles and renewable energy.”

In a ceremony to showcase the project today, leaders demonstrated an electric
drivetrain involving a set of Mazda vehicles specially converted to adopt
EnerDel batteries and drivetrain components from EnerDel automotive partner and
customer, THINK.

The compact 5-door Mazda Demio, sold outside of Japan as the Mazda2, is based at
a Family Mart convenience store for car-sharing equipped with solar power
generating systems, high-speed recharging stations, a billing mechanism using a
non-contract IC-imbedded smart card, terminals for remote battery monitoring of
charging, discharging, wear data, and a stationary battery array used to move
energy to and from the electric grid.

The unique combination of on-site battery storage with rapid re-charging allows
for the use of direct current throughout the system, sharply reducing the amount
of time needed to charge a vehicle. It also allows drivers to recharge the car
without drawing power from the grid, a significant advantage at peak load times.
The project uses a 24-kilowatt-hour fixed storage EnerDel battery pack,
originally designed for the THINK City electric vehicle, to demonstrate that
automotive systems can be used in stationary applications without major
modification.

ABOUT ENER1

Ener1 develops and manufactures compact, high performance lithium-ion batteries
to power the next generation of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric
vehicles. The publicly traded company (Nasdaq: HEV) is led by an experienced
team of engineers and energy system experts at its EnerDel subsidiary located in
Indiana. In addition to the automobile market, applications for Ener1
lithium-ion battery technology include the military, grid storage and other
growing markets. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products through its
EnerFuel subsidiary and nanotechnology-based materials and manufacturing
processes for batteries and other applications through its NanoEner subsidiary.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Certain statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking
statements that are based on management’s expectations, estimates, projections
and assumptions. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “believes,”
“scheduled,” “estimates” and variations of these words and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are
difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ
materially.

INVESTOR RELATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS
Rachel Carroll Genesa Garbarino
Ener1, Inc. Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Phone: 212-920-3500 Phone: 646-356-8313
Email: rcarroll@ener1.com Email: ggarbarino@maloneyfox.com

SOURCE EnerDel

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Company Codes: NASDAQ-NMS:HEV