Porsche Talking To Formula E About Opening Up Battery Development

Open It Up

The single-spec battery has been a part of Formula E since its inception, starting out with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) as a supplier before McLaren Applied took over. WAE will take back over for the 2022-2023 season, but it seems that Porsche wants to end this standardization which would go a long way in helping it develop its own future battery tech in the racing series.

Photos: Porsche

Cost Considerations

"Due to cost reasons, they didn't want to open up the battery for manufacturers, which we have to accept," Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbac told Motorsport.com. "On the other side, the battery is the one to look at in the future. We've already had some talks."

Photos: Porsche

Balancing Act

"Even in a controlled way, we would like to see that the battery in some way is opened to the development of the manufacturers," he added. "Leave it free is not the right way to go. What we don't want is somebody to spend a fortune - because they've got a partner on the road cars, and they do everything for you - because that would kill the small teams."

Photos: Porsche

Compromise

Laudenbach proposed that Formula E consider "a standard cell but the rest is free, within certain boundary conditions" as a way to avoid pushing out smaller teams while also allowing big teams like Porsche to develop its own battery tech.

Photos: Porsche

Battery Freedom

In the meantime, Formula E has imposed a cost cap that takes effect this coming October and limits teams to $28 million in total research and development costs over two seasons. Regardless, the limits on battery freedom are part of what prompted BMW, Audi, and Mercedes to exit Formula E. Porsche is currently committed to Formula E through the 2023-2024 season.

Photos: Porsche

In Talks

"We would like to see that in a controlled way the freedom for development is opened up in the battery," Laudenbach said. "I'm not blaming the Formula E organization because it is a tricky thing to do. We are talking to them, and I think it will come."

Photos: Porsche

Bottom Line

Ultimately, however, cost control is dictating this potential change for now. "Freedom equals money, sadly," said Formula E co-founder Alejandro Agag. "The more freedom you give, the more money the teams have to spend and then after a little bit they run out of money, and they leave the championship."

Photos: Porsche

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