Although only a few weeks have passed since the end of the 2022 Formula E season, manufacturers have been straight back to the test tracks in an effort to get vital pre-homologation running on their Gen3 test and development cars.

With one senior technical director telling The Race in Seoul last month that the activity is like ‘a revolving door of team members going to and from factory to test tracks’, a bigger-picture concern is mounting about the amount of time teams have to hit a reasonable state-of-readiness with ultra-aggressive timeframes in place as the 2023 season already starts to loom.

The logistics have been brought into sharp focus by the decision to start the season in mid-January with a flyaway race at Mexico City. This means that infrastructure and cars are likely to be sent immediately after the pre-season test at Valencia in mid-December.

The large step up in power (100kW) and in particular the regenerated energy (maximum of 600kW) from the Gen2 car to the Gen3 one means that suppliers, and as a consequence teams, are being pushed to the maximum in the knowledge their packages for the next two seasons of racing must be completed by the end of October for early November homologations.

With financial regulations being imposed for the forthcoming ninth season of Formula E too, the ever complex supply-chain issues of some materials and parts manufacturers could mean there’s much less flexibility to address specific issues.

These are sure to arise for some manufacturers, several of which have already faced problems significant enough to have curtailed some of their test days this summer.

aggressive gen3 deadlines put formula e under pressure

As revealed by The Race last week, Porsche and Nissan are just two of the manufacturers that are known to have been forced to have private tests aborted.

The majority of manufacturers have faced challenges such as battery reliability problems, while Mahindra also experienced an accident suffered by Oliver Rowland at Mallory Park in July, which was confirmed by the driver to stem from a Mahindra powertrain issue and not a supplied spec component.

Those apart, there are also development challenges that are believed to be associated with the pouch cells used in the new Williams Advanced Engineering-supplied rechargeable energy storage system.

The Gen3 car has a much higher cycle of regen (600kW maximum). In Gen2 a certain amount of energy was being regenerated on one axle last year (250kW) but there will be two axles worth of energy coming in next season. That means the battery has got a much harder cycle to deal with and remember it is 100kgs lighter than its predecessor (285kgs to 385kgs).

Thermally the pouch cell type that has been chosen has to deal with a higher charge rate, and a really high duty cycle that the cooling system is built around.

This means very different thermal properties and will mean teams will actually have to heat the battery up. This is because it has a window where it prefers to be warmer and is essentially the opposite to the previous McLaren Applied derived battery which was started from a very cool temperature.

In the case of the Gen3 unit it will be started from quite a warm temperature, believed to be somewhere between 45 and 65 degrees.

Both Porsche and Nissan have spoken publicly about the frustrations and last week’s test at Varano was important for pooling knowledge from the six manufacturers as they get ready to homologate their cars for two seasons in the coming weeks.

The situation is said to have become increasingly serious in recent months. But back in July, when The Race spoke to the FIA’s Frederic Bertrand in New York, there was already a sense that time was not on the side of the all-electric world championship and its manufacturers as they readied for biggest technological step yet.

“Every day is important right now because it’s super-important that everything they [the manufacturers] face we have reported, and we can help,” said Bertrand.

“The fact is that the mileage done by the manufacturers is still quite low, and they need to gain experience. In other companies people would say it’s change, management of change which is always difficult because everybody has the understanding of what they knew, and then we are asking them to take some…not some bets, because I think it’s already backed by a lot of studies, but I think some commitments on things they don’t know yet as well as they knew in the past.

“So, everybody is getting afraid, but we are channelling this before we knew how the future will be.

“This management is 100% right now under control because now we have a very good exchange, communication between the manufacturers and the FIA team and Formula E also so we need to reassure people that everything is done to mention reliability as a key thing.”

aggressive gen3 deadlines put formula e under pressure

Bertrand added that the reliability of the Gen3 car is a key focus and that it could affect the full performance parameters of the cars.

This is known to have happened in several tests so far, with Porsche’s Florian Modlinger admitting last week to The Race that “from the current test we are putting a lot of mileage on the car with obviously some compromises in running the car”.

The FIA, through its official suppliers including Williams Advanced Engineering, is working to get an adequate solution for the cell issue in the component.

The fear among many of the manufacturers though is that the time between completing pre-homologation test programmes is insufficient with what is a presumed last test running at the full power capability of 350kW.

There are just 11 weeks remaining for manufacturers to reliability test, homologate, and performance test their packages before all teams get together for the December 11-15 Valencia test, with cars likely to be freighted straight to the Mexico opener in January.

“It’s [reliability] a no-discussion topic,” said Bertrand.

“Things have to be reliable. We need to have more performance and [be] faster, that’s another no brainer. We have all the parameters to be faster so the development will help to make people confident in the fact that it will significantly faster.

“Today they all say, ‘Maybe this is not enough’ but this is where we are. It’s more creating confidence and trust into the new product we have in our hands, and then run the test, and then slowly build up the experience, and then for sure, I’m 100% confident that the level of confidence which everyone will have for the start of the season will be really much higher than today.

“All along the season it will grow and all along the cycle of that car it will grow and grow and grow because we are comparing the Gen2 car, after four seasons where everybody went to quite high level of exploitation and effectiveness in the car management.”

aggressive gen3 deadlines put formula e under pressure

Should the issues believed to be centred on the spec battery continue, it will feed a consistent narrative where some manufacturers wish to have elements of that component freed up for future rules sets.

Porsche has already been publicly vocal about its preference to have some autonomy if it is to remain in Formula E beyond the current generation of cars.

Its motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach told The Race last April that “the battery is the most important component for getting people from A to B, so yes we would like to see in the future that the area of the battery will be opened up”.

“But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying batteries should be free because this might mess up the engine and explode the budgets,” he said.

“Yes we have a cost cap, a cost cap that what we do technically still has to be in a certain relation.

“Yes we would like to see it, even vaguely, as this is related to the product on the road, we would like to see the area of the battery opened up.”

Keyword: Aggressive Gen3 deadlines put Formula E under pressure

CAR'S NEWS RELATED

The ‘nightmare’ collapse of a Formula E title bid

In Danny Boyle’s mesmerising 2002 film 28 Days Later, a stunned Jim played by Cillian Murphy wanders the streets of London alone and confused, believing he must be in a nightmare. To describe Edoardo Mortara’s demeanour last weekend as approaching something akin to a zombie apocalypse state would be ...

View more: The ‘nightmare’ collapse of a Formula E title bid

Rosenqvist deal revelation creates new Mc Laren driver twist

IndyCar teams have been put on high alert by the news that Felix Rosenqvist reportedly hasn’t signed a contract for 2023 with McLaren Racing, despite the team announcing he had in June. On Thursday a key player in the silly season, Rinus VeeKay, took himself out of the market ...

View more: Rosenqvist deal revelation creates new Mc Laren driver twist

Injured Bird’s Formula E streak over as Jaguar calls up Nato

Norman Nato will make his return to Formula E in Seoul next weekend for Jaguar. He will deputise for Sam Bird, who injured his hand in an early race incident at last Sunday’s London E-Prix. Nato, who has attended every round this season in his capacity as test and ...

View more: Injured Bird’s Formula E streak over as Jaguar calls up Nato

Formula E excelled in London but F1 clash was an own goal

Formula E delivered perhaps its best ever E-Prix event at London’s monolithic ExCeL Arena last weekend. And, after another season of calendar disruption, frankly it had to. The reason it had to deliver was that the disruption, image issues and embarrassment of postponing and then cancelling the much heralded ...

View more: Formula E excelled in London but F1 clash was an own goal

Details of two large Formula E Gen3 test crashes emerge

Formula E’s new Gen3 car has already had two real-time crash tests, with a pair of unrelated and sizeable, previously unreported, crashes having occurred during private testing in recent months. The Race has uncovered that Oliver Rowland and Theo Pourchaire suffered significant accidents in testing at Mallory Park in ...

View more: Details of two large Formula E Gen3 test crashes emerge

Nissan picks rookie for first 2023 Formula E seat

Nissan is set to give Sacha Fenestraz his Formula E debut next season after recently agreeing a deal for the 23-year-old Franco-Argentine to join its team for the start of the Gen3 era in 2023. He currently races in Super Formula, sitting third in the championship in his fourth ...

View more: Nissan picks rookie for first 2023 Formula E seat

How Giovinazzi’s first good Formula E race fell apart

Antonio Giovinazzi lamented the loss of his “big chance” to claim his first ever Formula E points after a breakthrough London race went dramatically awry. Prior to Sunday, Formula 1 convert Giovinazzi had qualified on the back two rows for the majority of his Formula E starts so far, ...

View more: How Giovinazzi’s first good Formula E race fell apart

Buemi, Wehrlein involved in London Formula E post-race dust-up

Sebastien Buemi and Pascal Wehrlein had to be separated following an angry discussion at the end of Sunday’s London E-Prix after their battle for seventh place. Witnesses saw the pair push each other and then square up to each other in the altercation, which lasted just a matter of ...

View more: Buemi, Wehrlein involved in London Formula E post-race dust-up

Winners and losers of Formula E’s London double-header

The failure that’s probably ended Jaguar’s Formula E title bid

De Vries defends ignoring ‘silly’ Mercedes team order

‘Completely unfair’ – Di Grassi’s fury with Formula E stewards

Is the Formula E title now in Vandoorne’s pocket?

‘I look like a clown’ – A new low for Formula E’s wasted hero

The full extent of Mahindra and Abt’s new Formula E tie-up

Formula E’s lost 2022 title contender

The Spa-style fix for hated part of London Formula E track

Mc Laren needs a Formula E Plan B – but its options are scant

Formula E slashes London energy limit to avoid messy race

Where Formula E will ‘make things more simple’ in Gen3 era

OTHER CAR NEWS

; Top List in the World https://www.pinterest.com/newstopcar/pins/
Top Best Sushi Restaurants in SeoulTop Best Caribbean HoneymoonsTop Most Beautiful Islands in PeruTop Best Outdoor Grill BrandsTop Best Global Seafood RestaurantsTop Foods to Boost Your Immune SystemTop Best Foods to Fight HemorrhoidsTop Foods That Pack More Potassium Than a BananaTop Best Healthy Foods to Gain Weight FastTop Best Cosmetic Brands in the U.STop Best Destinations for Food Lovers in EuropeTop Best Foods High in Vitamin ATop Best Foods to Lower Your Blood SugarTop Best Things to Do in LouisianaTop Best Cities to Visit in New YorkTop Best Makeup Addresses In PennsylvaniaTop Reasons to Visit NorwayTop Most Beautiful Islands In The WorldTop Best Law Universities in the WorldTop Richest Sportsmen In The WorldTop Biggest Aquariums In The WorldTop Best Peruvian Restaurants In MiamiTop Best Road Trips From MiamiTop Best Places to Visit in MarylandTop Best Places to Visit in North CarolinaTop Best Electric Cars For KidsTop Best Swedish Brands in The USTop Best Skincare Brands in AmericaTop Best American Lipstick BrandsTop Michelin-starred Restaurants in MiamiTop Best Secluded Getaways From MiamiTop Best Things To Do On A Rainy Day In MiamiTop Most Instagrammable Places In MiamiTop Interesting Facts about FlorenceTop Facts About The First Roman Emperor - AugustusTop Best Japanese FoodsTop Most Beautiful Historical Sites in IsraelTop Best Places To Visit In Holy SeeTop Best Hawaiian IslandsTop Reasons to Visit PortugalTop Best Hotels In L.A. With Free Wi-FiTop Best Scenic Drives in MiamiTop Best Vegan Restaurants in BerlinTop Most Interesting Attractions In WalesTop Health Benefits of a Vegan DietTop Best Thai Restaurant in Las VegasTop Most Beautiful Forests in SwitzerlandTop Best Global Universities in GermanyTop Most Beautiful Lakes in GuyanaTop Best Things To Do in IdahoTop Things to Know Before Traveling to North MacedoniaTop Best German Sunglasses BrandsTop Highest Mountains In FranceTop Biggest Hydroelectric Plants in AmericaTop Best Spa Hotels in NYCTop The World's Scariest BridgeTop Largest Hotels In AmericaTop Most Famous Festivals in JordanTop Best European Restaurants in MunichTop Best Japanese Hiking Boot BrandsTop Best Universities in PolandTop Best Tips for Surfing the Web Safely and AnonymouslyTop Most Valuable Football Clubs in EuropeTop Highest Mountains In ColombiaTop Real-Life Characters of Texas RisingTop Best Beaches in GuatelamaTop Things About DR Congo You Should KnowTop Best Korean Reality & Variety ShowsTop Best RockstarsTop Most Beautiful Waterfalls in GermanyTop Best Fountain Pen Ink BrandsTop Best European Restaurants in ChicagoTop Best Fighter Jets in the WorldTop Best Three-Wheel MotorcyclesTop Most Beautiful Lakes in ManitobaTop Best Dive Sites in VenezuelaTop Best Websites For Art StudentsTop Best Japanese Instant Noodle BrandsTop Best Comedy Manhwa (Webtoons)Top Best Japanese Sunglasses BrandsTop Most Expensive Air Jordan SneakersTop Health Benefits of CucumberTop Famous Universities in SwedenTop Most Popular Films Starring Jo Jung-sukTop Interesting Facts about CougarsTop Best Hospitals for Hip Replacement in the USATop Most Expensive DefendersTop Health Benefits of GooseberriesTop Health Benefits of ParsnipsTop Best Foods and Drinks in LondonTop Health Benefits of Rosehip TeaTop Best Air Fryers for Low-fat CookingTop Most Asked Teacher Interview Questions with AnswersTop Best Shopping Malls in ZurichTop The Most Beautiful Botanical Gardens In L.A.Top Best Mexican Restaurants in Miami for Carb-loading rightTop Best Energy Companies in GermanyTop Best Garage HeatersTop Largest Banks in IrelandTop Leading Provider - Audit and Assurance In The USTop Best Jewelry Brands in IndiaTop Prettiest Streets in the UKTop Best Lakes to Visit in TunisiaTop Highest Mountains in Israel