Envision Racing Formula E team boss Sylvian Felipe believes there is “no reason” this series should not be opened to battery development in the next generation of cars.
Since the launch of Formula E in 2014, it has run a battery with certain specifications, given to all teams by one supplier – and it has remained that way through Gen 1 and Gen 2.
The upcoming third-generation machines for the 2022/23 season will also feature closed battery development, which means teams cannot change the Williams-Advanced Engineering part.
However, some teams have called for battery development to be opened up in Formula E, while others have resisted on the basis of costs.
Envision Racing team boss Sylvian Felipe believes there is “no reason” Formula E should not allow open battery development – provided it keeps costs low.
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Envision is one of the FE customer teams, which means it’s taking its powertrain from the manufacturer — which will switch from Audi to Jaguar to offer Gen 3 in 2022/23.
The actual battery itself will be designed by Williams – who won the bid from McLaren who selected it for the second generation.
Felipe – who has been in charge of Envision since the first race in Beijing 2014 – believes that developing open batteries in Formula E is the next logical step once the new cars are sorted out.
“It’s the next big thing on the roadmap, it’s all about timing,” he said exclusively. HITC.
“It’s all about focusing our energy, resources and engineering talent on our biggest gains and there’s a lot more to gain on the powertrain and reconfiguration of the braking, which is critical to the cars’ efficiency.
“The fact that we have moved from rear-wheel drive to two sets of engines on the rear axle for the next generation, this will give us a lot of work to do to improve the regeneration profiles on the cars.
“That’s the one that has the most direct impact on road cars, but of course, in parallel with that, the batteries are getting better every year, and we’re working closely with the cell manufacturers to see where the cells are going and how we can use them for racing. You have to design custom cells for the application we’re trying to do. with it.
But in the long run, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t open up development on batteries. You just have to make sure to protect the integrity of the sport.
“If you end up with a team or a manufacturer that has a lot more energy than the others, it won’t be very fun to watch.”
More work to do than just open up
While the opening up of battery development in Formula E seems a relatively straightforward idea, Felipe thinks the work that comes with it will be challenging.
It is also believed that it is possible to form 4 or 5 FEs.
“We just have to make sure we get them ready to run, but it’s not just about the cells, it’s about the encapsulation of the cells, the cooling of the cells, and the electronics and controls going around,” he explained.
The first discussions started to set some parameters of what it would be like, but we have the time, but we’re starting to think about it.
“It’s interesting, but whether it’s 4G or 5G in the future, I don’t know. Between the FIA and the teams, we have this kind of roadmap discussion and we’ll see what makes the most sense.”
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