Formula E’s 600 kW Charge
Formula E teams just demoed 600 kW pit‑lane charging — roughly 10% battery in 30 seconds — outpacing Tesla V4’s ~500 kW and accelerating tech that will trickle into consumer chargers fast. The clip circulating highlights the gap in peak power and how racing tech is compressing charge‑time expectations for road EVs. (x.com)
Fortescue Zero is the official PIT BOOST partner supplying the race‑side hardware and the Elysia battery‑intelligence software that manages ultra‑fast top‑ups and targets a roughly 15C charging C‑rate for the Gen3 Evo cells. (fortescue.com) Formula E’s implementation adds a measured 3.85 kWh of usable energy to the race cars’ pack (about one tenth of the Gen3 Evo battery) and the feature first appeared at the Jeddah E‑Prix on 14–15 February 2025. (fia.com) Teams use a single portable booster unit per garage that can deliver two mid‑race top‑ups and relies on onboard energy storage so the system is not constrained by local grid capacity; the FIA sets which race window teams must take the boost and shares that window 21 days before each event. (fortescue.com) Across Season 11, organisers and Fortescue reported the kit delivered roughly 1.5 MWh of energy during almost 400 top‑ups, a usage stat promoters point to when arguing the tech is more than a one‑off spectacle. (the-mia.com) Trackside engineers said the fast‑charge operations completed without major charger failures, but drivers and teams voiced mixed reactions — some praising the strategic depth while a number of entries later flagged battery‑related anomalies for post‑race investigation. (e-formula.news) (motorsport.com) By contrast, Tesla’s full V4 Supercharger rollout uses new switch cabinets that enable up to 500 kW peak for high‑voltage vehicles (and up to 1.2 MW for the Semi), but Tesla’s network and vehicle limits mean only certain models currently access those peak rates while others remain capped and subject to real‑world charge‑curve throttling. (tesla.com) (electrek.co) (notebookcheck.net)
