New Flyer’s Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ achieves 350 miles of zero-emission range in a test demonstration for the Orange County Transportation Authority

St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA – April 25, 2019: (TSX: NFI) New Flyer of America Inc. (“New Flyer”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), the largest bus manufacturer in North America, today announced a test demonstration for the Orange County Transportation Authority (“OCTA”) achieved  350-miles of zero-emission range with a New Flyer forty-foot, heavy-duty fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ bus. These results exceeded the 300-mile range performance target by 17 percent without refueling.

The forty-foot Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ was equipped with a Ballard Power Systems fuel cell, producing electricity in motion to continuously recharge the 100 kWh of batteries to power a Siemens electric drive motor. The bus operated for 28 hours and achieved 10.4 miles per diesel gallon equivalent. When the hydrogen tanks were fully depleted, the zero-emission bus (“ZEB”) operated on battery reserve for an additional 20 miles, to achieve a combined range of 350 miles. The demonstration was completed on OCTA’s Route 47 operating from Fullerton to Newport Beach in April 2019 with a payload representing fully-seated passenger capacity.

“This is a significant milestone for OCTA, New Flyer, Ballard Power Systems, California Air Resources Board, and Center for Transportation and the Environment,” said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer. “The fuel cell with stored hydrogen performed ideally as an on-board battery charger, allowed the bus to reach 350 miles without refueling or connecting to the electric grid. This represents a significant team accomplishment, and celebrates the power of fuel cell-electric buses – alongside battery-electric – as effective means to deploy zero-emission solutions across America.”

As announced April 2018, New Flyer is delivering 10 forty-foot fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ buses to OCTA, along with 10 of the same model to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District under the Fuel Cell Electric Bus Commercialization Consortium Project, funded by the California Air Resources Board and its California Climate Investments Program (“CCI”). CCI is a statewide program putting billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities. CTE is a non-profit organization helping transit agencies and bus manufacturers to develop and deploy zero-emission, fuel cell electric, and battery-electric transit buses.

“Under California’s Innovative Clean Transit regulation, starting in 2023 large transit fleets will be required to purchase ZEBs for at least 25 percent of total procurements, ultimately transitioning to 100 percent ZEBs by 2040,” said Jaimie Levin, Senior Project Manager and Director of West Coast Operations for the Center for Transportation and the Environment. “This New Flyer demonstration shows fuel cell-electric buses can play a critical role in a zero-emission fleet, operating 24 hours a day with refueling in as little as six minutes, allowing the highest utilization possible.”

New Flyer manufactures the Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ in forty-foot and sixty-foot lengths. In March 2019, New Flyer announced that both had successfully completed the Federal Transit Administration Model Bus Testing Program at Altoona, Pennsylvania. The Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ utilizes the same reliable drive system as New Flyer’s Xcelsior CHARGE™ all-battery electric bus.

Battery-electric and fuel cell-electric bus technology is featured at New Flyer’s Vehicle Innovation Center (VIC). For further information on the VIC, visit www.newflyer.com/VIC and for information on California Climate Investments, visit arb.ca.gov/caclimateinvestments.

The NFI Group has over 50 years of experience in manufacturing zero-emission buses (ZEBs).

About NFI

With over 6,300 team members, operating from 31 facilities across Canada and the United States, NFI is North America’s largest bus manufacturer providing a comprehensive suite of mass transportation solutions under brands: New Flyer^® (heavy-duty transit buses), ARBOC^® (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), MCI^® (motor coaches), and NFI Parts™ (parts, support, and service). NFI buses incorporate the widest range of drive systems available including: clean diesel, natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, and zero-emission electric (trolley, battery, and fuel cell) on proven bus platforms. It also supports infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe and reliable charging and mobility solutions. In total, NFI supports over 74,000 buses and coaches currently in service across North America. For the fiscal year ended December 30, 2018, NFI posted revenues of US $2.5 billion. NFI common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NFI. News and information are available at www.nfigroup.com.

About New Flyer

New Flyer is North America’s heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior^® and Xcelsior CHARGE™ brands. It also offers infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging and mobility solutions. New Flyer actively supports over 41,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 7,300 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,600 are zero-emission. Further information is available at www.www.newflyer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to expected future events and financial and operating results of the NFI that involve risks and uncertainties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, investors cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and the differences may be material. Actual results may differ materially from management expectations as projected in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including those risks and uncertainties discussed in the materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Due to the potential impact of these factors, NFI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.

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