FE | Fast charging is postponed: it won't arrive before the end of the season

One of the big new features of Gen 3 should have been fast charging, what was officially better known as Attack Charge, and today it has been postponed once again. On paper, it should have been a stop of about 30 seconds, in which new energy would have been reinjected into the car, so as to be able to exploit the 350 kW mode, as currently happens with the Attack Mode.

However, from the beginning there were doubts that this new technology could be introduced any time soon. It was initially postponed to Season 10, which began at the beginning of 2024, so much so that it was also officially tested in the teams during the pre-season tests which took place last October in Valencia.

But before the start of the season it became clear that the rapid charging pit stop arrived in time for the first round of the world championship, continuing testing in the first free practice session in Mexico City. The hope was to debut fast charging at Misano, but as the weeks went by, this objective also gradually became unrealistic.

Speaking at the Misano ePrix, Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds admitted that it is now unlikely that fast charging pitstops will be introduced before the end of the season, but leaves the door open to next year. , when the Gen 3 Evo will debut.

No further tests will be carried out over the weekend until further notice, as it is understood that the technology is not yet ready, but behind the scenes “private” tests will continue. “As it stands, the technology is not robust enough to allow us to use it in racing,” the Formula E CEO said at the press conference in Misano.

“We will never jeopardize a race by putting technology that isn't ready yet, but we are trying to push the limits of battery charging technology. That's not an easy thing to do. I can never apologize for the fact that we're trying to push the boundaries of technology because we exist to advance electric technology. It's not ready for launch yet, so we won't exploit it.”

The CEO of Formula E confirmed that it is “quite unlikely” that it will be introduced before the end of the season, clearly leaving the door open to next year, when the intermediate Gen, the Gen 3 EVO, will debut, the presentation of which is expected in the coming weeks. : “We will launch Gen3.5 for next season, so maybe it would make more sense to launch it at the start of next season.”

“But we'll continue to test it as much as we can and maybe we'll get to a point where we'll be ready to introduce it by the end of this season, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's not the case.”