Firefly Energy and Electrolux Professional Outdoor Products Group Sign Agreement
Posted on June 21st, 2005

1st Customer for Advanced Battery Technology

Pictured right with Electrolux products: Ed Williams, CEO, and Mil Ovan, Senior Vice President and Co-Founder of Firefly Energy.

Peoria, IL – June 22, 2005 – Firefly Energy Inc., formed to create the next generation of lead acid battery technology based on a material sciences innovation discovered by Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), today announced the company has entered into an agreement to develop and produce its revolutionary battery technology on an exclusive basis for select upcoming outdoor lawn products sold by Electrolux Outdoor Products (SSE: ELUX-B). Firefly will receive USD 1.7 million in equity and engineering funding, to develop the first version of its advanced lead acid battery for Electrolux.

“Electrolux can see a great potential in Firefly Energy’s advanced battery technology. Even as this project is at an early stage, we believe Firefly’s technology allows us to introduce new levels of cordless power and efficiency to our customers”, said Johan Dyberg, Vice President of Core Technology for Electrolux Outdoor Products. Electrolux Professional Outdoor Products is the world’s largest manufacturer of lawn mowers, garden tractors and chain saws, enjoying greater than 40% market share in these worldwide market segments. Electrolux Outdoor is also one of the top manufacturers of portable equipment such as lawn & hedge trimmers, and leaf blowers.

“We’re gratified that a company of Electrolux’ stature has, after a very comprehensive review, selected our battery technology to power future versions of their outdoor lawn and garden equipment,” said Edward F. Williams, CEO of Firefly Energy. “Product companies have long been hampered from introducing innovative products for lack of strong price/performance in batteries. We aim to help unleash Electrolux innovation and enable them to offer substantially better performing battery-powered lawn equipment to its customers worldwide,” Williams concluded.

“This is a major milestone for Firefly, for Peoria NEXT, and for Caterpillar. We’ve achieved the goal of securing independent, commercial recognition of the value of Caterpillar technology, spun out through the Peoria NEXT initiative resulting in a successful start up with Firefly Energy,” said Gerry Shaheen, Caterpillar Group President and Peoria NEXT board member.

The lead acid battery market today totals about $16 billion in annual worldwide sales. The Firefly technology utilizes the same chemistry as lead acid batteries but replaces the heavy lead metal historically utilized in those batteries with an advanced composite material; hence, end-of-life corrosion problems are minimized, and battery power/energy are maximized.

For more information, contact Mil Ovan, Senior Vice President and Co-Founder, Firefly Energy Inc. at 309.690.7502 or e-mail movan@fireflyenergy.com.

About Firefly Energy (www.fireflyenergy.com):
Firefly Energy Inc. (“Firefly”) is in the business to produce and license advanced lead-acid battery technologies, which hold the opportunity for a major impact in the $30 billion worldwide battery market. The technology can deliver a disruptive combination of high performance, extremely low weight and reduced cost in a battery utilizing traditional, but non-corrosive, lead-acid chemistry. Firefly’s technology delivers a performance associated with advanced materials (Nickel Metal Hydride & Lithium) at a cost similar to lead acid batteries. The company was launched as a spin-out from Caterpillar on May 1, 2003, and is headed by co-founders Edward Williams (CEO), Mil Ovan (Sr. VP), and Kurtis Kelley (Chief Scientist). Investors include Caterpillar, United Defense, L.P. (NYSE: UDI), Chicago-area Venture Capital firm KB Partners, the State of Illinois’ Illinois Finance Authority, and Electrolux (SSE: ELUX-B).

About Electrolux (www.electrolux.com):
The Electrolux Group is the world's largest producer of powered appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, such as refrigerators, washing machines, cookers, vacuum cleaners, chainsaws, lawn mowers, and garden tractors. Every year, customers in more than 150 countries buy more than 55 million Electrolux Group products for both consumer and professional use sold under famous brands such as AEG, Electrolux, Zanussi, Frigidaire, Eureka and Husqvarna. In 2004, Electrolux had sales of SEK 121 billion and 72,000 employees.