GNB Industrial Power, a division of Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE), today announced the expansion of its high-performance line of industrial lift truck batteries with the new Tubular-HP™ product range. The Tubular-HP™ line consists of 100 Ah (ampere hour) and 140 Ah plate sizes.

The 100 Ah Tubular-HP™ product is the same height as a typical 85 Ah flooded flat-plate product, and the 140 Ah Tubular-HP™ product is the same height as a typical 125 Ah flooded flat-plate product. "This means that a customer can achieve more power, using tubular technology, in the same size compartment that was previously occupied by a flooded flat-plate battery," said Keith Schmid, Vice President and General Manager for GNB Industrial Power.

GNB Industrial Power also announced extended applicability of its Liberator™ Low-Maintenance Flooded Tubular line. The Liberator™ battery was introduced to the North American market in 2004, but users were initially limited to the use of a GNB® SCR200 charger with a unique I-W-P profile in order to achieve a minimum watering cycle of 90 days (based on one cycle per day to 80 percent depth of discharge and five days per week operation). Exide has recently established that SCR chargers with an I-E-I profile and ferroresonant chargers also can be used, but watering cycles are limited to 45 days for SCR chargers and approximately 10 to 15 days when ferroresonant chargers are used.

"Tubular technology enables the Tubular-HP™ and Liberator™ Low-Maintenance batteries to deliver a larger amount of consistent, reliable power than flat-plate batteries of equal size," Schmid said. "They are engineered to deliver increased power and efficiency while maximizing battery life. Users can experience longer lift truck run times, resulting in fewer battery change-outs and improved productivity."

Both product lines are designed for use with electric lift truck models in Class I (sit-down, counter-balanced), Class II (narrow aisle) and Class III (walkie pallet).

The Tubular-HP™and Liberator™Low-Maintenance batteries are produced in GNB Industrial Power's Kansas City manufacturing plant.

For more information, go to www.exide.com.