SION Power Lithium Sulfur Batteries Soar to New Heights

Business Wire, Sept 11, 2007

TUCSON, Ariz. -- SION Power's lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery, with the highest specific energy of any rechargeable battery available, enabled QinetiQ's battery/solar powered Zephyr 6.1 High Altitude, Long Endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to beat the official world record for the longest duration unmanned flight. This flight is the culmination of a 4-year joint development effort.

The historic flight took place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Zephyr, an all-electric UAV with a wing span of 62 feet and a gross weight of 31 kg, achieved an incredible 54 continuous hours aloft using a combination of SION Power's Li-S batteries at night and solar power during the day. After a ground launch, the maximum altitude recorded during the flight was 58,370 feet, where the UAV encountered external temperatures as low as -68o C.

The custom built Li-S battery pack was designed and assembled by SION Power and consisted of 576 cells built into a battery configuration of 12 cells in series and 48 in parallel. The battery utilized SION's unique, high specific energy Li-S cells (350 Wh/kg). At ~10 kg, the Li-S battery pack was carefully engineered to minimize total pack weight. In addition to providing flight power, the battery pack supplied power to a special internal pack heating system to maintain the batteries at (o)C throughout the cold nights.

"This flight represents a major accomplishment for SION's lithium sulfur technology. It proves the viability of our unique, high energy, rechargeable battery system, not only for UAVs, but for a wide range of other applications as well," said Mark Jost, SION's Executive Vice President.

Paul Davey, Zephyr's Development Director at QinetiQ, said "The performance of the SION Li-S battery exceeded our expectations. The close working relationship that has been established between QinetiQ and SION contributed to the success of the Zephyr mission."

Anticipating significant future growth, SION Power is relocating to a new larger facility, also in Tucson, Ariz., before year end. This facility will enable further advancement of SION's promising technology, as well as allowing early commercialization.

SION Power Corporation, an innovative battery company headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., is creating a new class of electrochemical energy storage products based on proprietary lithium sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable battery chemistry. SION Power holds 97 U.S. and foreign patents related to this new battery. The Company has 50 employees, including eight Ph.D.s, and is dedicated to true "Next Generation" battery technology. For additional information, please contact Mark Jost at (520) 799-7643 or via email at mark.jost@sionpower.com. Please visit SION's website at www.sionpower.com.

QinetiQ (pronounced ki net ik as in 'kinetic energy') is a leading international defense and security technology business that was formed in July 2001 from the U.K. government's Defense Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA). QinetiQ has approximately 13,500 employees, who deliver technology-based services and exploit QinetiQ's strengths in technology research by selling systems solutions, products and licenses to government and commercial customers in a spectrum of defense, security and related commercial markets. For additional information, please contact David Bishop at +44 1252 39 4573 / 3500 or via email at djbishop@qinetiq.com. Please visit QinetiQ's website at www.qinetiq.com.