NORTHBOROUGH, Mass., Dec. 5, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN)
("Aspen" or the "Company"), a
technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions,
today announced a commercial award for its PyroThin® EV
Thermal Barrier segment and provided an update on its application
for a loan through the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs
Office.
European EV Thermal Barrier Commercial
Award
Aspen announces
an additional PyroThin vehicle platform
award from The Automotive Cells Company
("ACC"), a battery cell joint venture
between Stellantis
N.V.,
Saft-TotalEnergies and Mercedes-Benz, to supply
the Stellantis STLA Medium
vehicle platform with an expected start of production in
2025. Stellantis
N.V. is one of the
world's leading automakers with the Jeep,
Ram, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën,
DS Automobiles, Chrysler, Dodge,
Opel, Vauxhall, Alfa
Romeo, Lancia,
Maserati, Abarth,
Free2move and Leasys brands in its
portfolio.
U.S. Department of Energy Loan Application Update
The
Company received a letter from the U.S. Department of Energy
("DOE") Loan Programs Office ("LPO") confirming that its pending
application seeking a loan pursuant to the DOE LPO's Advanced
Technology Vehicles Manufacturing ("ATVM") lending program is
substantially complete and inviting the Company to formal due
diligence. This application is in connection with the construction
of Aspen's planned second aerogel
manufacturing facility in Georgia.
While this invitation does not guarantee or imply that the
Company will be invited any further forward in the process,
Aspen continues to engage with the
LPO and its advisors. DOE's invitation into the due diligence
and term sheet negotiation process is not an assurance that DOE
will issue a loan, nor that the terms and conditions of a loan will
align with terms proposed by the applicant.
"These developments are meaningful steps in our near-term
execution as we continue to diversify our customer base for
PyroThin and work to optimize our near and long-term cost of
capital," commented Don Young,
Aspen's President and CEO. "The
European market will drive a meaningful portion of our revenues
over the next few years as we maximize our existing assets and
commercial arrangements."
About Aspen Aerogels, Inc.
Aspen is a technology leader in sustainability
and electrification solutions. The Company's aerogel technology
enables its customers and partners to achieve their own objectives
around the global megatrends of resource efficiency, e-mobility and
clean energy. Aspen's PyroThin®
products enable solutions to thermal runaway challenges within the
electric vehicle ("EV") market. Aspen Battery Materials, the
Company's carbon aerogel initiative, seeks to increase the
performance of lithium-ion battery cells to enable EV manufacturers
to extend the driving range and reduce the cost of EVs.
Aspen's Spaceloft® products
provide building owners with industry-leading energy efficiency and
fire safety. The Company's Cryogel® and Pyrogel® products are
valued by the world's largest energy infrastructure companies.
Aspen's strategy is to partner
with world-class industry leaders to leverage its Aerogel
Technology Platform® into additional high-value markets.
Headquartered in Northborough,
Mass., Aspen manufactures
its products at its East Providence,
R.I. facilities. For more information, please visit
www.aerogel.com.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary
Statements
This press release and any related discussion
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially
different from historical results or from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These
statements are not historical facts but rather are based on
Aspen's current expectations,
estimates and projections regarding Aspen's business, operations and other factors
relating thereto. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would,"
"should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates,"
"outlook," "assumes," "targets," "opportunity," and similar
expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among
other things, Aspen's expectations
about capacity, revenue, revenue capacity, backlog, costs,
expenses, profitability, cash flow, gross profit, gross margin,
operating margin, net loss, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin
and related decreases, improvements, timing, variability or trends;
beliefs about higher than expected demand from the EV market and
how it may enable a path to profitability, expectations about
improvement in ability to absorb fixed costs and reduction of
conversion costs as a percentage of sales and the same leading to
target revenue capacity and gross margins and Adjusted EBITDA
margins; Aspen's expectations regarding the planned
second manufacturing plant in Georgia ("Plant II"), the extended
construction and commissioning timeframe for Plant II, Aspen's efforts to manage the construction of
Plant II to align with our expectations of demand from EV
customers, and the use of contract manufacturers to meet demand
from Energy Industrial customers; beliefs about the general
strength, weakness or health of Aspen's business; acceleration in demand;
beliefs about current or future trends in the energy, energy
infrastructure, chemical and refinery, LNG, sustainable building
materials, EV thermal barrier, EV battery materials or other
markets and the impact of these trends on Aspen's business; beliefs about the strength,
effectiveness, productivity, costs, profitability or other
fundamentals of Aspen's business;
beliefs about the role of Aspen's
technology and opportunities in the electric vehicle market;
beliefs about Aspen's ability to
provide and deliver products and services to electric vehicle
customers; beliefs about content per vehicle, revenue, costs,
expenses, profitability, investments or cash flow associated with
Aspen's electric vehicle
opportunities, including the EV thermal barrier business; beliefs
about revenue growth and profitability; beliefs about the
performance of PyroThin® including its ability to
mitigate the propagation of thermal runaway in electric vehicles;
beliefs about Aspen's ability to
expand the market for PyroThin®, to achieve design wins,
to commence shipments of production parts, and to become an
industry standard solution for thermal runaway management; beliefs
about Aspen's thermal barrier
design, prototype, quoting and assembly activities; and
expectations about the cost of the capital projects, including
Plant II. All such forward-looking statements are based on
management's present expectations and are subject to certain
factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results,
outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
inability to execute the growth plan, inability to complete
construction and commissioning the Plant II and to do so at a cost
consistent with Aspen's estimates
and aligned with Aspen's
expectations of demand from our EV customers; the right of EV
thermal barrier customers to cancel contracts with Aspen at any time and without penalty; any
costs, expenses, or investments incurred by Aspen in excess of projections used to develop
pricing under the contracts with EV thermal barrier customers;
Aspen's inability to create
customer or market opportunities for, including
PyroThin®; any other battery performance and safety
products, battery materials or for other new products developed
from Aspen's aerogel technology;
any disruption or inability to achieve expected capacity levels in
any of the three existing production lines in East Providence, RI or the Mexico assembly facility or at any contract
manufacturer; any failure to enforce any of Aspen's patents; the general economic
conditions and cyclical demands in the markets that Aspen serves; and the other risk factors
discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Aspen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2022 and
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on
March 16, 2023, as well as any
updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in
Aspen's subsequent periodic and
current reports filed with the SEC. All statements contained in
this press release are made only as of the date of this press
release. Aspen does not intend to
update this information unless required by law.
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SOURCE Aspen Aerogels, Inc.