EV Quick-Charge Pit Stops Take Formula E Open-Wheel Racing to Next Level

Yahoo

02-04-2025

The ABB FIA Formula E racing series is making a big leap forward with Pit Boost technology this season.
At select races, the series will for the first time include pit stops for a 30-second EV energy boost.
The technology is spearheaded by Chinese automaker BYD.
When the ABB FIA Formula E racing series first came to Miami 10 years ago in the series' inaugural season, there were many naysayers who said open-wheel EV racing would never last.
Well, Formula E is not only still around, it's back at Miami this month, replacing Portland on the schedule, and still delivering good racing and even more attention-grabbing innovation. The series is a true laboratory for the latest and greatest in high-performance EV technology.
This year, the series is making what could be called one of its biggest—or at least most visible—leaps forward on the tech side with its Pit Boost, fast-charging technology. At select races, the series will for the first time include pit stops for EV energy boost.
Pit Boost is a quick-charge technology where a 30-second charge of a 600 kW boost during a minimum 34-second pit stop will give the open-wheel race cars a 10% charge of 3.85 kW of energy. Each team will have one boost unit to use. For a two-car team, that means no stacking of pit stops and that strategy for when to make that mandatory one stop will be a key factor in the race.
It's a far cry from 10 years ago when Formula E first came to Miami, and range limitations forced drivers to jump out of one car and jump into another at the midway point of a 45-minute race.
The company behind the latest energy boost for Formula E is Chinese automaker BYD, which this spring has unveiled a quick-charging option it says will give some of its car models up to 249 miles of range with just a five-minute, 1,000 kW charge. Formula E had its first race with the technology and in-race pit stops for energy at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in February.
"I'm delighted to say the technology worked really well," said Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds in an exclusive Autoweek interview. "There were no failures, no cars stopped, no problems. Everything charged properly. And it worked really well. And it created a very different strategy for the race.
"It really meant the teams had to work hard to think through the different strategic elements."
The series is somewhat soft-launching the Pit Boost technology and its energy pit stops this season—Season 11 for Formula E. The plan calls for it to be used only on Formula E doubleheader weekends, with the next one coming in Monaco on May 3-4. Each doubleheader weekend will feature one race with the quick charge, one without.
Formula E visits Homestead-Miami Speedway for a single race on the speedway's infield road circuit on April 12, meaning that fans, unfortunately, won't get to see the quick charging in action.
"We know that fast charging is incredibly important for the EV industry," Dodds said. "And if we can demonstrate that in theory in around five minutes you could fully charge an electric vehicle, that's a very powerful message."
Transferring that technology to the mainstream is the ultimate goal, of course. Dodds predicts this particular EV tech is 4-6 years from becoming the next big game-changer for Formula E as well as for potential buyers of EVs who are still scared off by range anxiety.
"The charger has to be able to access the grid in order to generate that level of power," Dodds said. "The limiting factor is more likely the battery than the charger. Over probably the next four to six years, expect us to move into solid state batteries. As we we move into solid state batteries, which are more energy dense with the latest technologies, that will allow, I think, for the potential of fast-charging to grow exponentially."
Currently, Formula E cars use lithium ion batteries.
"Solid state batteries today are not really available for automobiles," he said. "That technology has not been put into cars today. We expect to see it over the next four-to-six years. We expect to see it become a mass market proposition.
"The benefits will be, first of all, solid state batteries are more energy dense which means the power output will be better and the battery will perform better in extreme conditions, hot or cold. Energy density also means you can have a much smaller battery to generate the same power. Or, you could have the same size battery and generate more range out of it.
"The choice becomes yours."