Phoenix Motorcars, an early leader in the production of full-function, freeway-speed, all-electric sport utility trucks (SUT) for commercial fleet use has announced today that it has ordered an additional 34 all-battery packs from Altairnano NanoSafe™ (NASDAQ: ALTI), a leading supplier of ceramic nanomaterials and high-power battery systems technology.

“The Altairnano NanoSafe battery is changing the future of transportation,” said Daniel J. Elliott, CEO of Phoenix Motorcars. “Utility companies and government agencies are eager to add our all-electric commercial vehicles to their fleet inventory.”

Altairnano’s all-battery packs will be installed in Phoenix Motorcars’ sport utility trucks (SUT). Delivery is expected to begin summer 2007, including Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) initial order of four SUTs.

The battery pack is a 35KWh configuration that enables Phoenix Motorcars’ SUT to travel at freeway speeds while carrying five passengers and a full payload. It exceeds all specifications for a Type III Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), having a driving range of over 100 miles, can be recharged in less than 10 minutes and the battery pack has a life of 12 years or more.

Phoenix's SUT is a battery-electric vehicle that eliminates noise and toxic vehicle emissions that contribute to air pollution. The SUT is powered by UQM Technologies Inc.’s (AMEX: UQM) propulsion system, utilizes Boshart Engineering’s homologation process and is equipped with a non-toxic, revolutionary Altairnano NanoSafe™ (NASDAQ: ALTI) all-battery pack.

The company is on target to manufacture and sell 300 fleet-ready vehicles by year’s end. A limited number of Phoenix Motorcars all-electric sport utility trucks will be available to consumers in 2007 with an expanded consumer launch scheduled for 2008. Phoenix Motorcars will also introduce an SUV model in late 2007.


Source: Phoenix Motorcars