Fast-charging pit stops postponed again: Attack Charge set to debut at Formula E race in Misano
Tobias Wirtz
Despite the successful testing of the new fast-charging pit stops at a manufacturer test on Mallorca, Formula E fans will have to be patient until at least April this year. As e-Formula.news has learnt, the Attack Charge will not be introduced until the Misano E-Prix at the earliest. Previously, the plan was to use the double-header in Saudi Arabia at the end of January for the premiere.
A spokesperson for the FIA confirmed this in response to our enquiry. "The teams have been informed that the Attack Charge will be used at the races in Misano, Berlin, Shanghai, Portland and London," read the FIA statement in full.
All five events mentioned are double-headers, with one race taking place on Saturday and one on Sunday. It is not yet known whether the Attack Charge will be used in both races of the double-header events or only in one race. However, the possibility exists.
This is the next major postponement of the introduction of Attack Charge. The fast-charging pit stops were originally planned for the start of the 2023 season. Shortly before the opening race, the FIA and Formula E corrected their statement to "selected races" in the 2023 season. During the Berlin E-Prix, the then Formula E CEO Jamie Reigle first communicated the postponement to 2024.
Attack Charge to be tested in free practice sessions from Mexico
A major test of fast charging was planned for the pre-season tests in Valencia in October last year. However, this was cancelled: On the one hand, supplier WAE Technologies did not provide enough chargers for all the teams, and on the other, a battery fire in the pit building, which was not related to fast charging, threw the entire planning of the test drives into disarray.
After the problems in Valencia, the start of the season in Mexico was already considered an unrealistic goal - the Attack Charge was to come at the double-header in Diriyah. At least that was the unofficial plan behind the scenes. Instead, the first six races of the season (!) will now have to take place without pit stops.
However, this only applies to the races: Tests with the new technology are to be carried out in the free practice sessions of the Formula E races in Mexico City, Diriyah, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. Although the race in Hyderabad is still on the race calendar as of today, it is about to be cancelled.
2 Comments
Paul GOVAN ·
Yes - it will be great to see 30-second pit-lane battery charge-boosting BUT superfast 45 second battery-SWAP pit-stops would and should by now also be possible. China's Changan can now battery-swap consumer EV batteries in 30 secs and NASA's "25 Hours at Thunderhill" electric race-team have got it down to 66 secs - and that's without any sophisticated batt-swap tech - just tight manual team-work.
Watch/see:
1) NASA-backed electric EVSR race-car team in the rarely-reported "Thunderhill" race series swap batteries in just over a minute - with no automated assistance at all:
https://youtu.be/STDkftheaug?si=d32xiH-_ULFuYBaw
2) Changan 30 sec battery swap report:
https://cntechpost.com/2020/10/27/from-three-minutes-to-30-seconds-nio-led-battery-swap-mode-sparks-race/
Paul G
Jamey Wetmore ·
Battery swap is an interesting approach. Formula Lightning teams were doing it every race in the 1990s. Most teams were well under a minute to change upwards of 1200 pounds of batteries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_Lightning
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