Hexagon Purus and Panasonic Energy sign multi-year supply agreement for battery cells in North America

18 Apr 2023 08:00 CEST

(Oslo, Norway, 18 April 2023) Hexagon Purus Systems USA LLC, a subsidiary of
Hexagon Purus ASA ("Hexagon Purus"), a world leading manufacturer of zero
emission mobility and infrastructure solutions, has signed a multi-year
agreement for the supply of lithium-ion battery cells with Panasonic Energy Co.,
Ltd. ("Panasonic"), a global provider of innovative battery technology-based
products and solutions. Panasonic will supply battery cells for Hexagon Purus'
proprietary battery systems, marking yet another important milestone for Hexagon
Purus' zero-emission heavy-duty offering in North America with battery system
production initially slated for Kelowna, Canada.

The battery cells will be produced at Panasonic's new facility in Kansas (U.S.)
and will be compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade
agreement and are also expected to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act of
2022 (IRA) incentives available for U.S. based producers of battery cells.

The supply of battery cells will commence in early 2026. As part of the supply
agreement, Hexagon Purus will prepay approximately USD 43 million (approximately
NOK 450 million) through 2025, subject to the achievement of certain milestones.
This prepayment will secure battery cell capacity for Hexagon Purus out of
Panasonic's production facility in Kansas.

Driving Energy Transformation

"Securing our battery supply chain has been an important objective for Hexagon
Purus to deliver on our customer contracts such as the recently announced
distribution agreement with Hino for the production of complete battery electric
heavy-duty vehicles for the U.S. market. Panasonic has been a pioneer in making
zero emission mobility available to the mass market, and this, coupled with
their reliability and focus on continuous innovation, make them the ideal
partner for Hexagon Purus", says Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus.

"We are thrilled to announce this landmark agreement with Panasonic which
further solidifies our leading battery system and vehicle integration offering
in North America", says Todd Sloan, EVP of Hexagon Purus. "The agreement with
Panasonic is a strong validation of our technology and will provide us a solid
competitive platform to deliver quality solutions to our customers".

"Zero-emission mobility will continue to grow in significance over the next
decade and this agreement with Hexagon Purus marks an important step for
Panasonic's global strategy as a provider of innovative battery-technology",
says Kazuo Tadanobu, CEO of Panasonic Energy. "Partnering with Hexagon Purus, a
technology-leading provider of safe and reliable battery systems for zero-
emission heavy duty trucking, will help us to drive the growth of the lithium-
ion battery industry and accelerate the transition to zero-emission mobility".

About the market

To reach the 1.5°C ambition set by the Paris agreement back in 2015 the
transportation sector is required to reduce emissions by 75% until 2050. In the
U.S., both the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and California Air Resources
Board (CARB) have introduced proposals and regulations that addresses the need
for further reductions in emissions in the transportation sector. In California,
CARB has introduced a regulation for truck manufacturers (Advanced Clean Truck
standard), and more recently, proposed a new regulation for fleet owners
(Advanced Clean Fleet standard). Both regulations aim at reducing emissions and
accelerate the adoption of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) in the transportation
sector in California. As part of both the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) and the
proposed Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulations, the truck manufactures and
fleet owners are required to have an incrementally higher ZEV content when
selling or operating a fleet of trucks in California from 2024 onwards. The ACT
regulation has already been adopted by five other states in the U.S.
(Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington) and two more
states are in the public process required to adopt (Colorado and Main).

The ACT requires amongst other that 5% of all new class 7 and 8 trucks sold in
2024 in California must be ZEV while new additions to fleets of class 7 and 8
trucks operating to and from intermodal seaports and railyards are required to
be ZEV from 2024. The ACT regulation also requires 100% of truck manufacturers'
sales in 2040 to come from ZEVs, putting an effective end to sale of internal
combustion engine trucks in California and incentivizes investments into
infrastructure and supply chain.

There are approximately 1.8 million commercial trucks operating in California
daily across a various set of classes including amongst other 219,000 class 7
and 8 trucks. According to CARB, the combined effect from the ACT and ACF
regulations will lead to approximately 0.5 million ZEVs on the road by 2035 in
California, increasing to 1.6 million in 2050.

Contacts

Mathias Meidell,?Investor Relations?Director, Hexagon Purus?
Telephone: +47?909 82 242 |?mathias.meidell@hexagonpurus.com
(mailto:mathias.meidell@hexagonpurus.com)?

Public Relations Team, Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd.
energy-pr@ml.jp.panasonic.com (mailto:energy-pr@ml.jp.panasonic.com)

About Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd

Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., established in April 2022 as part of the Panasonic
Group's switch to an operating company system, provides innovative battery
technology-based products and solutions globally. Through its automotive
lithium-ion batteries, storage battery systems and dry batteries, the company
brings safe, reliable, and convenient power to a broad range of business areas,
from mobility and social infrastructure to medical and consumer products.
Panasonic Energy is committed to contributing to a society that realizes
happiness and environmental sustainability, and through its business activities
the Company aims to address societal issues while taking the lead on
environmental initiatives.

For more details, please visit https://www.panasonic.com/global/energy/

About Panasonic Group

A global leader in developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-
ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, industry,
communications, and energy sectors worldwide, the Panasonic Group switched to an
operating company system on April 1, 2022 with Panasonic Holdings Corporation
serving as a holding company and eight companies positioned under its umbrella.
Founded in 1918, the Group is committed to enhancing the well-being of people
and society and conducts its businesses based on founding principles applied to
generate new value and offer sustainable solutions for today's world. The Group
reported consolidated net sales of 7,388.8 billion yen for the year ended March
31, 2022. Devoted to improving the well-being of people, the Panasonic Group is
united in providing superior products and services to help you Live Your Best.

To learn more about the Panasonic Group, please visit:
https://holdings.panasonic/global/

About Hexagon Purus

Hexagon Purus enables zero emission mobility for a cleaner energy future. The
company is a world leading provider of hydrogen Type 4 high-pressure cylinders
and systems, battery systems and vehicle integration solutions for fuel cell
electric and battery electric vehicles. Hexagon Purus' products are used in a
variety of applications including light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses,
ground storage, distribution, refueling, maritime, rail and aerospace.

Learn more at www.hexagonpurus.com (http://www.hexagonpurus.com/) and follow
@HexagonPurus on Twitter and LinkedIn

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