If Season 11 of Formula E does not mark a major upheaval on the sporting side, the championship continues to innovate and present changes over the years. This year, the big news is the introduction of the Gen3 Evo single-seaters, visually similar to the Gen3 of the two previous seasons, but which will be equipped with a new four-wheel drive technology, usable in qualifying, at the start and when using the Attack Mode.
In addition to the 4×4 transmission, the discipline will introduce a new system: fast charging with the “Pit Boost” system. It’s all in the name: on certain rounds (which have yet to be determined) of the season, drivers will have to go through the pits during the race to do a fast recharge, like a refueling… but with electricity. But how will this work in concrete terms? With what rules?
At the start of the electric championship, with the Gen1, the drivers were forced to return to their garage to completely change gear. car in progress! Since the transition to Gen2 in 2017, they are no longer required to go through their pits during an E-Prix. To add a strategic element to the races, and to spice up the show, Formula E decided to reintroduce a mandatory pit stop system with Gen3 Evo… and with a two-year delay. Planned for 2023, the “Pit Boost” was finally developed for Season 11, despite the difficulties.
A mandatory and timed pit stop
During an E-Prix, the driver will have to respect a specific window that will allow him to stop in the pits to perform a quick recharge. This window will be determined by the state of charge (SoC) of the single-seater during an E-Prix, with values set by the stewards before the event. Race control may decide to open the pit stop window when the charge level of a single-seater is between 60% and 40%, for example. Drivers will be prohibited from performing their Pit Boost outside of this window, nor during a race suspension (i.e. a red flag).
When a driver stops to take their fast charge, they and their team must respect a minimum stopping time, published before the start of the competition. The stopping time will be counted from the moment the car is stopped in its position in the pit lane and the charger – called Boost Charger – is connected until the moment the car moves back to the fast lane. This Boost Charger is a 600 kW fast charging system, supplied to the teams by the company Fortescue Zero, formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering. Each car must stop for about thirty seconds – 34 seconds to be precise, including 30 seconds of recharging – to recharge about 10% of the battery.
When stopping, the Boost Charger, connected to the rear of the car, must be correctly connected and the entire allocated energy must be charged into the car. A maximum of two people may work on the car, plus one person specifically assigned to stopping and releasing the car. During the charging phase, no work is permitted on the car. Changing tyres is prohibited until the Pit Boost is completed. Until the charger is disconnected from the car, all four wheels must remain in contact with the ground, and any further intervention on the car, apart from connecting and disconnecting the Boost Charger, is strictly prohibited.
“Double stop” banned in Formula E
From a strategic point of view, however, the teams will be limited in their choices. Unlike the Formula 1, the double stop (or double stack in English) will not be allowed: only one car per team can make a pit stop at its location. Pit Boost will be compatible with Attack Mode, a system that has been present in Formula E for several seasons now and which allows a driver to obtain more power for a limited time after passing between two detection terminals. In races where Pit Boost will be mandatory, Attack Mode can be used from the 3rd lap.
Alberto Longo, the championship director, is very positive about this new boost. “This is one of the most ambitious and important additions, not only for our series, but also for modern motorsport.” assures the co-founder of Formula E. Nothing less.
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VANHEUKELOM jY
17/12/2024 at 08:52 a.m.
It's ugly, all motorsport is artificial, expensive, and less and less interesting or attractive...obviously young people have not known wheel-to-wheel RACING, not too many rules, no anesthesia, only the "balls" of the drivers
DANIEL MEYERS
17/12/2024 at 01:31 a.m.
"Each car should stop for about thirty seconds to recharge the battery by about 10%." Fortunately, ridicule doesn't kill! If only competitors could stop whenever they wanted. In short, after Mario-Kart (attack mode), a bit more cinema and not good.