US Hybrid Announces China Fuel Cell Joint Venture and Unveils Class 8 Fuel Cell Port Drayage Truck for San Pedro Ports

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - May 02, 2017) - US Hybrid, Inc., a California based company, today announced its joint venture with Jiangsu Dewei Advanced Materials Co., Ltd, a Chinese company ("Dewei"), and unveiled a zero-emission class 8 fuel cell port drayage truck featuring its PEM fuel cell engine during the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center. The truck, which will be operated by Total Transportation Solutions, Inc (TTSI), is one of two demonstration tractors scheduled for delivery at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"TTSI is excited to lead the demonstration of zero-emission fuel cell technology for port drayage in the San Pedro Ports," said Vic LaRosa, TTSI CEO and president.

The fuel cell tractor, a Navistar International ProStar day cab, features US Hybrid's FCe™80, 80kW PEM fuel cell engine, and a 500 horsepower traction motor with 2,900 foot pounds of direct drive torque (3,750 Nm). It has a gross vehicle weight rating of 80,000 pounds, an estimated driving range of 200 miles under normal drayage operation, and can be fully refueled in less than nine minutes.

"Demonstrating the viability of zero-emission trucks for goods movement is a vital step toward Southern California meeting its federally mandated standards for healthy air," said Wayne Nastri, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

"US Hybrid deserves our thanks and appreciation for its cutting-edge clean technology leadership. These new fuel cell trucks will help protect the health of disproportionately impacted communities near our ports, rail yards, warehouses, and freight transportation corridors," said Dr. Joseph Lyou, President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a California public interest organization dedicated to protecting public health, improving air quality, and preventing climate change.

US Hybrid is well positioned to be a major US manufacturer of fuel cell engines for the medium- and heavy-duty commercial transportation sector. The company announced its plans to expand its Connecticut production facility via a joint venture with Dewei. The joint venture, US FuelCell, Inc. ("USFC"), will focus on the production of US Hybrid's PEM fuel cell engines, including the FCe™80, an 80kW fuel cell engine for heavy-duty trucks and transit buses, and the FCe™40, an 40kW fuel cell engine for class 6 and 7 trucks and medium-duty transit buses.

The compact and high efficiency FCe™80 and FCe™40 units have been designed to be integrated, controlled, and serviced just like a conventional engine with J1939 diagnostics and easy access to critical components to minimize service time. The FC engines are utilizing US Hybrid's unique advanced freeze capable technology, which enables start at temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius without a cold climate option package.

USFC anticipates production and delivery of more than 1,200 PEM fuel cell engines in the next 36 months. The expansion of production facilities in US and China will enable the company to build and deliver 2,000 fuel cell engines per year in the US and additional 2,000 engines in China. The higher-volume fuel cell engine production capability will enable fleets to realize a comparable return on investment as other clean fuel engines.

"Dewei is committed to the successful development of fuel cell technology for commercial buses and trucks, as evidenced by our $42.8 million (RMB 300 million) investment in Chinese fuel cell production and establishment of a $428 million (RMB 3000 million) industrial fund," said Zhou Jianming, Dewei Chairman. "This new partnership with US Hybrid will enable US FuelCell to meet market demand cost-competitively in China, North America, and Europe."

"Our joint venture with Dewei will dramatically increase the availability of PEM fuel cell engines for commercial vehicles globally," stated US Hybrid president and CEO, Dr. Abas Goodarzi, Ph.D, P.E., a 35-year veteran of the electric, hybrid, and fuel cell industries. "Given that heavy-duty engines are the leading source of smog-forming emissions in many metropolitan areas throughout the world, we are thrilled to provide an economically viable zero-tailpipe-emission solution to help cities achieve their air quality improvement and climate change mitigation goals."

About US Hybrid Corporation

US Hybrid Corporation has provided electric and hybrid-traction drive systems for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks, municipality vehicles, and fuel cell transit buses throughout the world, with more than one million accumulated kilometers of operation. Notable recent integration projects include hybrid street sweepers for the New York Department of Sanitation, hybrid port trucks for the New York Container terminals, fuel cell buses for Sunline Transit, fuel cell powered class-8 drayage trucks for operation at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Houston, and a range of full cell vehicles (shuttle buses, step vans, military vehicles, port trucks) for Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. US Hybrid is also providing Caltrans with a fuel cell street sweeper.

US Hybrid is an ISO 9001 and an ISO 14001 registered company. US Hybrid products are designed to meet customer's application requirements and standards, including: ISO, SAE, UL, FCC, NEBS and MIL-STD compliance. For more information, visit http://www.ushybrid.com.

About Jiangsu Dewei Advanced Materials Co., Ltd

Jiangsu Dewei Advanced Materials Co. Ltd ("Dewei"), established in 1995, is the largest high molecular material producer and distributor in China. The rapidly growing company, which is a supplier for General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota, and a key shareholder of Guizhou Aerospace Special Vehicle Co., has recently experienced nearly 30% year-over-year revenue increases. The company is ISO9001, ISO/TSO16949, ISO14001 certified. For more information, visit http://www.chinadewei.com.

About US FuelCell.

US FuelCell ("USFC") is a joint venture between US Hybrid and Jiangsu Dewei Advanced Materials Co., Ltd ("Dewei"). The company, established in 2013, specializes in the production of freeze capable PEM fuel cell engines with integrated control and power conversion for light-, medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles for global market. The USFC Connecticut production facility and is equipped with state of art automated and semi-automated assembly, test and validation equipment. The FCe™ integrated product line engine is available in 10kW, 40kW and 80kW. The FCe™ engines includes the cell stack, balance of plant components, high efficiency isolated DC-DC converter with built in safety disconnect, fault protection and J1939 vehicle diagnostics, further simplifying the service and maintenance of zero-emission fleets. For more information, visit US FuelCell www.usfuelcell.com.

Note to Editors: Can provide high-resolution photos of the class 8 fuel cell port drayage truck unveiling from ACT Expo