"Not yet ready for the market" - fast-charging pit stop introduction "unlikely" in this Formula E season

The introduction of fast-charging pit stops in Formula E is unlikely to happen this season. Instead of the planned premiere at the Misano E-Prix, Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds considers an introduction with the Gen3.5 car in the 2024/25 season to be more realistic. The main reason for this is the unreliability of the technology, which is not yet ready for the market.

"As it stands right now, the technology isn't robust enough for us to put it into a race," Formula E CEO Dodds told a media panel including Motorsport.com ahead of the Misano E-Prix. "What we're never going to do is compromise a race by putting in technology that's not ready."

The biggest problems with charging are reliability and safety concerns. "We are trying to push boundaries of battery charging technology. This is not a simple thing to do. It isn't ready to launch now, so we won't launch it," said Dodds.

Until further instructions from the FIA, there will therefore be no more public tests with the technology during race events. The Formula E chief currently considers it "unlikely" that the Attack Charge will be used this season.

"We will continue testing" - residual hope remains

A new timetable for the project envisages that the pit stops will be launched together with the Gen3.5 development programme from next season. "We'll launch Gen3.5 for next season, so maybe it makes more sense to launch at the start of next season now anyway." However, he does not want to commit himself: "We continue to test it as hard as we can and I may be surprised, maybe we'll get to a point where we're ready to introduce it at the end of this season, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not."

This is not the first postponement on the road to the launch of the new technology. The original plan was to introduce it at the start of the third car generation last season. Due to supply chain problems, the project was initially postponed by one season. In the end, it was to be introduced in the middle of this season - at the current race weekend in Misano to be precise.

To this end, various tests were carried out this season starting at the pre-season tests in Valencia. This was shortened due to the unexpected fire in the pit lane. Then there was a test during the 1st free practice session in Mexico City, where there were again problems with the technology, which is why the next run was not carried out until Sao Paulo. The issue has now been shifted back behind the scenes for the time being.