INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, a proponent of reducing foreign oil dependence for ensuring national security, recently visited Indianapolis-based EnerDel, a developer of alternative energy systems for automotive transportation. EnerDel is a subsidiary of Ener1, Inc.

Senator Lugar toured EnerDel’s production facility and was briefed by management and engineers about the company’s achievement in developing innovative lithium-ion batteries for a new generation of hybrid (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and electric vehicles (EV).

During the visit, company engineers took Senator Lugar for a drive in an HEV powered by an EnerDel battery. The company became the first in December last year to successfully integrate a lithium-ion battery into a mass-manufactured HEV. Hybrid electric vehicles currently use nickel-metal hydride technology (NiMH), as was formerly applied in cell phone and laptop batteries, which is less powerful, heavier, and more expensive than lithium-ion.

EnerDel expects to announce initial third-party data next month from Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago on the performance of the EnerDel HEV battery.

In parallel, EnerDel is developing batteries for PHEVs and EVs. The company currently is expanding production capacity to begin deliveries in late-2008 on a $70-million contract for the Th!nk City electric vehicle and is also readying for anticipated HEV volume production in 2010 and 2011.

Information on Senator Lugar’s energy initiatives is available at: www.lugar.senate.gov/energy.