On December 14, 2010, Balqon also entered in to a Distribution Agreement with Seven One Limited under which Balqon was appointed the exclusive distributor in the United States for lithium iron phosphate batteries and high voltage charging systems manufactured by Winston Battery Limited.
Seven One Limited holds worldwide distribution rights with respect to the high-capacity lithium iron phosphate batteries and high voltage charging systems manufactured by Winston Battery Limited. Both Seven One Limited and Winston Battery Limited are Shenzhen, China-based companies that are headed by leading battery technology scientist, inventor and entrepreneur, Mr. Winston Chung.
"We have used batteries manufactured by Winston Battery along with our proprietary battery management systems since 2009, and have been highly impressed by their performance," said Balwinder Samra, president and CEO of Balqon. "We believe this new distributor relationship and Seven One Limited’s substantial investment in our company will enhance our product offerings and allow us to jointly explore a number of growing market opportunities within the stationary backup power and energy storage markets."
In November, Balqon and Winston Battery Limited jointly showcased their drive systems and battery technologies at the EVS 25 (The World Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition) organized by the World Electric Vehicle Association in China. The EVS 25 is recognized as the premier event for academic, government and industry professionals involved in electric drive technologies.
At the EVS 25, Balqon and Winston Battery Limited demonstrated the world’s first all-electric recreational vehicle (RV) with a range of 200 km. on a single charge. The 45-foot RV was manufactured by MVP RV, Inc. of Riverside, California. Using Winston Battery Limited’s advanced charging technology in Balqon’s battery management system, the RV can be fully charged within 20 minutes as compared to 8 hours using traditional methods.
"Working together with the Balqon team to develop the world’s first all-electric powered RV in record time revealed other opportunities we can jointly address across our respective continents using our complimentary expertise and experience," said Mr. Chung. "We believe our synergistic portfolios of battery and vehicle drive control technologies will enable us to enter new developing electric vehicle markets, and provide Balqon a path to diversify from its market niche of heavy-duty electric vehicles."
The issuance of securities in the private placement described above was not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Therefore, the securities may not be reoffered or resold by the investor absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
Headquartered in Harbor City, California, Balqon Corporation (OTCBB: BLQN) is a leading developer of heavy-duty electric trucks, tractors and electric drive systems. The company uses its proprietary flux vector control technology to design propulsion systems for 10 to 50 ton capacity vehicles and material handling equipment. Balqon Corporation’s product line of tow tractors built on Autocar LLC chassis are designed to transport containers at ports, marine terminals, rail yards, warehouses, intermodal facilities, military bases and mail facilities.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, Winston Battery (formerly Thunder Sky Batteries) produces batteries for electric bikes, electric motorcycles, electric automobiles and hybrid vehicles, and is currently the only company in the world engaged in mass production of rechargeable storage batteries for micro- and e-busses. The company’s extensive patented battery and recharging technologies include a unique system for rapid charging (less than half an hour) and the ability to produce high capacity up to 700 Ah batteries. Winston Battery’s proprietary technology and manufacturing methods ensures its cost of production and market price is considerably lower than its competitors. Some of the world’s largest automotive companies, including Daimler Benz, Fiat, BMW and Citroen, as well as Nokia, are currently evaluating its technology.
Founded in the People’s Republic of China in 1998, Winston Battery is a high-tech manufacturer employing two production lines with annual capacity of 60 million Ah. At the end of 2009, Winston Battery launched an additional fully automated battery production line with the capacity of 100 million Ah annually. The company currently has assets exceeding $4.0 billion.
Winston Battery Limited was one of the first companies in the world to successfully replace PVDF binders in the production of high capacity lithium-ion batteries. The chemistry of these cells is Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4), or LFP. The main advantage of LFP batteries is that they do not have the volatile thermal issues that Li-ion batteries have, making LFP batteries much safer then Li-ion. The other advantage is that they have very high cycle life, up to 2000 cycles compared with Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries that have a cycle life of about 400 cycles. This means that LFP cells can last five times longer then SLA batteries. Given the better cycle life, LFP batteries can be considerably less expensive to use than SLA batteries.
