Golden Dragon Bus to use Maxwell ultracapacitors

San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL) made a deal to supply its Boostcap ultracapacitors to China's Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus. Golden Dragon is producing diesel-electric hybrid buses for the Hangzhou Public Transport Group.

Maxwell said today that it has completed delivery of 720 of its 48-volt multi-cell ultracapacitor modules to Golden Dragon for installation into 45 hybrid buses. Financial terms of the supply contract were not disclosed.

"Golden Dragon has developed an innovative hybrid drive system for cleaner, more efficient, transit buses and other commercial vehicles," said David Schramm, president and CEO of Maxwell.

"This program has given us a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate the performance and reliability of our products and Maxwell's capabilities as a supplier to an industry leader in one of the world's most dynamic and fastest growing markets."

Golden Dragon delivered its first prototype hybrid bus with an ultracapacitor-based energy storage system to the Public Transport Group in July 2007 for a comparison with other hybrid drive systems under actual operating conditions.

"Ultracapacitors' high braking energy recuperation efficiency and long operational life make them an ideal energy storage choice for fuel-efficient, low-emission hybrid transit vehicles," said George Dong, Golden Dragon's hybrid bus program engineer.

"Maxwell's products performed very well during the evaluation period, and the 48-volt Boostcap module gives us a versatile building block for easy integration into various high-voltage configurations for heavy vehicles."

Maxwell said it expects heavy vehicle applications to continue to be a key driver for its global ultracapacitor sales growth.