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Solectria Force Wins First Place In Tour de Sol Road Rally

18 May 1998

Ovonic Powered Solectria Force Wins First Place In Tour de Sol Road Rally for the Fifth Consecutive Year

    NEW YORK, May 15 -- The results of the five-day Tour de Sol
road race are in!  Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. ("ECD")
announced today that the Solectria Force powered by Ovonic nickel metal
hydride ("NiMH") batteries developed and manufactured by ECD's Ovonic Battery
Company, Inc. subsidiary achieved a range of 225 miles on a single charge
winning first place in the production category of commercially available
electric vehicles.  The vehicle ran for five straight hours in pouring rain
and was rated number one in overall performance, cost, range, and public
acceptability.  The second place Honda ran for less than half the time of the
Ovonic-powered Solectria Force, running for only 109 miles.  James Worden, CEO
of Solectria and driver of the Force, commented that he was particularly
impressed with the performance of the Ovonic NiMH battery pack, which showed
no degradation in energy performance after one year of service and close to
10,000 miles of aggressive driving.
    The Ovonic scooter also took first place in the range category setting a
new world record of 69 miles (111 km) on a single charge also in the pouring
rain, demonstrating a range of approximately three times greater than with
conventional batteries.
    ECD is a leader in the synthesis of new materials and the development of
advanced production technology and innovative products.  It has pioneered the
development of products and production technology based on amorphous,
disordered and related materials, with an emphasis on alternative energy and
advanced information technologies.
    ECD's web site is http://ovonic.com.