600 kW fast-charging pitstops are coming to Formula E

“Equally as important to the strategy of when to take pit boost is the execution of it. Although it isn’t somewhere you can really gain time, there is the potential to lose a lot, so practice will be key as we introduce this new feature. Ultimately, we can expect added unpredictability in the race and a lot of learnings for the teams, particularly in the early stages,” Espinos said.

“In the already intense nature of racing in Formula E, this could be a deciding factor to race results,” said James Barclay, team principal of Jaguar TCS Racing. “Most importantly Formula E has always been a real-world test bed for electric vehicle technology, and what the pit boost technology will demonstrate is the advancement in ultra-fast battery charging, showcasing race-to-road technology to a global, influential audience. Astonishingly, our new Jaguar I-TYPE 7 will receive as much charge in a 30-second pit boost as an all-electric road car would receive in 30 minutes from a domestic 7 kW charger,” Barclay said.

Not every race will feature pit boost—the idea is to give the series some variation. So one race of the Jeddah double-header will require pit boost, but the other will not. “What we thought for season 11 is that basically, let’s launch this new system in places where we can do a completely different race the day after,” Longo said. “Let’s implement that in places where basically, in only 24 hours, you’re gonna see a completely different race. So you are actually going to be seeing the difference… by the pit boost,” Longo said.

That’s the plan for this season, at any rate; if it proves a success, Longo said it would probably be rolled out much more widely next year. Formula E says it’s confident in the reliability of the chargers or it wouldn’t be introducing them—it called off pit boost in both 2023 and 2024, after all. But there will be a couple of spares in the paddock in case a team (or two) experiences a failure, according to Formula E’s head of championship, Pablo Martino.

The Jeddah double-header will be held next month on February 14–15. If the first two rounds of this season were anything to go by, it should be worth watching.

This post was updated 1/23/2025 at 1:30 pm Eastern with a comment from Jaguar TCS Racing.