Electrovaya Receives Order from Leading Chinese Battery Company for SEPARION, a Ceramic Separator With Unparalleled Safety and Cycle Life for Lithium Ion Batteries

Electrovaya Inc.

receives order for SEPARION(TM) from a leading Chinese Battery company. A separator is a vital value-added membrane in a lithium ion battery and keeps the positive electrode separate from the negative electrode. SEPARION(TM), a proprietary ceramic embedded composite separator with unique high temperature properties, imparts vastly improved safety and cycle life to lithium ion batteries. Recent Developments for SEPARION(TM): -- Order received: A leading Chinese lithium ion battery company has qualified SEPARION(TM) after intense testing for use in its electric vehicle program. This customer's requirement is expected to be greater than $1 Million in 2015 and growing to larger amounts in 2016. -- Exclusivity: SEPARION(TM) was exclusive to a leading German automotive company for its electric vehicle production. This auto company continues to be a major customer but no longer has exclusive rights. -- Sales Pipeline: Several major battery companies are expressing great interest and have begun qualification processes. China is moving into electric vehicles with higher energy density chemistry and SEPARION gives the needed safety. We estimate that China alone can absorb over $ 15 million of SEPARION(TM) in 2016. -- Electrovaya Qualification: Electrovaya has also qualified the material and has begun using it for all its major products. -- Branding & Marketing has begun. This includes branding, website (www.separion.com) and a dedicated sales team for SEPARION(TM) -- Acquisition: Electrovaya acquired the Global rights to SEPARION(TM) and its production facility The key features of SEPARION(TM) are: -- Safety: Provides highest level of safety for large format lithium ion batteries for applications in electric vehicles and energy storage systems. No safety incident has been reported with cells made with SEPARION(TM) operating in tens of thousands of electric vehicles, a rare feat in the electric car industry. -- Extra Ordinary Cycle Life: SEPARION(TM) with proprietary processing allows spectacular increase in cycle life. For example, in cells made with graphite anode and NMC cathode (Nickel Manganese Cobalt oxide), most manufacturers show cycle life in the region of 3000 to 5500 cycles with full 100% charge discharge at 1 C rate. SEPARION(TM) shows approx. 9000 cycles using the same electrode chemistry and testing conditions. -- Utility Energy Storage applications demand the highest cycle life. -- High Temperature performance has been proven in a commercially available high temperature (greater than 100 degrees C) lithium ion battery. High temperature stability allows faster drying while SEPARION(TM) absorbs electrolyte faster under minimal pressure with accelerated wetting, all useful in lowering cell production costs. -- Unique "Full Ceramic" structure: SEPARION (TM) is a ceramic embedded separator. The material shows higher safety compared to polyolefins and ceramic coated separators. -- IP and Patent Protection: Protected by nearly 300 global patents and knowhow developed over many years (since 1998). "Because of SEPARION(TM)s unique combination of safety, high temperature performance and amazing increase in cycle life, our objective is to make this separator the industry standard. We are now assessing Joint Ventures and other means to increase capacity to meet increasing demand" says, Dr. Rajshekar Das Gupta, Vice President Technology, Electrovaya. "We are seeing a strong response from Chinese battery manufacturers for SEPARION(TM) and numerous leading companies are asking for samples. Our first major sale in China was driven by the unique properties of the SEPARION(TM) and the substantial safety improvements seen by our client", said Mr. Charles Zhang, sales agent for SEPARION(TM) in China.