The delivery marks a milestone for the plant, inaugurated in September 2011.

Jacksonville, Florida (February 1st, 2012) – Saft, the world's leading designer and manufacturer of high-tech industrial batteries, is announcing that it has shipped its first Intensium MAX 20 container from its new Jacksonville, Florida facility – the world's most advanced automated lithium-ion battery factory. The delivery marks a milestone for the plant, inaugurated in September 2011.

The container – shipped to a Philadelphia customer is composed of several thousand large Li-ion cells and it was fully manufactured at the Jacksonville location, including everything from the cells and modules to the container assembly. Further, the plant has several additional containers currently in production to be shipped to California and Hawaii.

"This benchmark first delivery marks a successful start to this plant's promising future," said Dan Miller, Jacksonville operations manager. "All operations are running smoothly and efficiently – orders are coming in, and cells are rolling off the production lines and out of the door. We're excited to continue ramping up production being able to meet our customers demand for high performance, complex lithium-ion battery systems"

The 235,000-square-foot Jacksonville facility utilizes unique technical innovation, including using the latest laser-welding techniques, operating flexible production lines capable of building multiple Li-ion battery systems and yielding one megawatt of solar power from Florida's largest rooftop photovoltaic system. It is LEED Silver certified.

About Saft
Saft (Euronext: Saft) is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced technology batteries for industry. The Group is the world's leading manufacturer of nickel batteries and primary lithium batteries for the industrial infrastructure and processes, transportation, civil and military electronics markets. Saft is the world leader in space and defence batteries with its Li-ion technologies which are also being deployed in the energy storage, transportation and telecommunication markets. Saft's 4,000 employees present in 19 countries, its 16 manufacturing sites and extensive sales network all contribute to accelerating the Group's growth for the future.

For more information, visit Saft at www.saftbatteries.com