Charge for new Formula E batteries may be delayed

Formula E CEO, Alejandro Agag, has revealed that the sport may postpone the introduction of battery competition until its fifth season in order to introduce a new specification sooner.

Current plans would see regulations around powertrain development relaxed in 2015/16 in order to increase speeds on track and the boundaries of available technology, with the rules then opened up the following season to pursue similar developments for batteries by allowing teams to adopt their own approaches.

However, Mr Agag has now mooted the prospect of teams pooling their knowledge to collectively develop an improved battery for use in the third and fourth season in order to control costs while improving the sport’s spectacle.

Speaking to Autosport magazine, Mr Agag commented: “The costs of developing one battery each are very high, so we are suggesting to the teams that the best thing is for them to pool together and develop a [common] battery.”

“Everyone is talking about cost-control and we need to make that happen and need to take these things step by step because teams need to be profitable”.

Mr Agag was quick to reassure teams and fans that a delay in opening up the regulations would not compromise the progress battery technology development – which he sees as a core focus for the sport in coming years.

“We want to make an evolution on the battery for season three and sticking with the current battery would not allow for that big a jump. So we want to develop a new one; it might be Williams or it might be someone else who builds it but we think it should be one [common battery].”

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