Is there a battery war in F1?

Power unit is a common umbrella term that has given rise to the importance of the integrated hybrid system within Formula 1. It is not just the engine anymore; the batteries, MGU-K, MGU-H and all its ancillaries/control units are of equal importance to the performance of the car. The aim of the hybrid system is to efficiently convert, store and deploy energy from one state to another, whether it be kinetic to chemical, or heat to chemical.

There are currently 4 power unit manufacturers in F1 — Mercedes, Red Bull (Honda), Ferrari and Renault — with Audi confirmed for 2026.

For ease, we will refer to the energy store (ES), as just the battery pack. In essence, they are EXACTLY THE SAME THING as batteries in Teslas.

Unlike the pure electric Teslas, with behemoth 100kW battery packs weighing in excess of >600KG, Formula 1 batteries are small. They sit snug in a small compartment inside the monocoque, below the fuel cell, behind the driver. See below.

Outsourcing:

Formula 1 teams are racing teams, specialising in aerodyanamics. Even in their engine deparrtment subsiaries, they do not intefere with the molecular structure of the battery cells. These battaeries are pretty complex, theyre not your traditional AA slap in the back batteries.

Teams tend to outsource a lot, and is one of the reasons many teams locate themselves within southern England, ‘motorsport valley’. Locating a team within this region gives rise to a multitude of positive, value-driving network effects — clusters of small firms in addition to the inherent specialised labour supply and test tracks nearby provides sufficient incentives to situate here, with greater propensity for poaching and cost management

One example is ‘no-sidepod’ design on the Mercedes W13 which uses rocket-derived technology, designed by Reaction Engines.

See more — the-rocket-tech-behind-mercedes-cutting-edge-f1-coolers .

The Regs:

F1 regulations surrounding battery development is pretty limited. They are heavily regulated in their weight, chemistry and energy capacity.

Battery: discharge 4MJ & recoup 2MJ per lap.

• Battery dicharge limit is 4MJand maximum energy recouperation is 2MJ per lap, from the MGU-K.
• Cells have to be approved by the FIA Technical Department.
• Lithium-ion battery — maximum weight is 25KG, minimum is 20KG.
• Must pass the relevant FIA crash tests to avoid a dangerous reaction from the battery cell in the event of an impact, as a lithium ion battery the F1 energy store must also satisfy the United Nations standard UN38.3 that regulates the transport of such battery packs.
• Maximum working voltage cannot exceed 1000V

The Mercedes battery capacity is 2160W. The 2 known battery cell suppliers to F1 teams are LG and Panasonic:

• Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LG)
• Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide (Panasonic)

The primary battery development changes over recent time was the shift from 400V to 800V batteries to slightly increase efficiency, but there is little improvement on molecular efficiency gains itself. Honda allegedly upgraded to the 800V battery at Spa 2021, with a new ES introduced. Ferrari upgraded to the 800V battery system at Russia 2021. Mercedes allegedly upgraded to the 800V battery at Spa 2022. Alpine is unknown.

To polish efficiency further, teams are keeping ideal temperatures within the ES whilst chargiing and discharing.

Using bigger cells, or reducing cobalt, like Tesla did would overall reduce total capacity and increase weight, in name of reducing resource extracting conflcit in the global supply of cobalt.

There is room however, similar to engine in some way, to increase efficiency via the use of exotic materials. Materials like unobatanium adamantium and vibranium are known by some teams to be used within cooling elements of the power unit. However, teams are only limited to 2 battery packs a year, so reliabiltiy is key. Thermal management is important, as a high degradation battery would rewuire teams to offset the losses by creating bigger batteries, with greater energy capacity, thus increasing weight.

Furthermore, in the cost-cap era, teams would be more confident on capital expenditure to aerodyanamics. Investing in battery imrpovements requires huge initial outlays, and can be seen like shooting in the dark. All of this means there is little incentive and little room for performance and gains in development.

The Future

It is safe to assume, given the tighly regulated and lack of incentives bounded by the formula 1 regulations, that their isnt a battery war. Batteries are limited in their chemistry, weight, capacity, and recharging capabilities. Switching to the 800V batteries have had some small efficiency gains, mainly within the battery life cycle, these are all speculative guesses and could be more due to cable and thermal management and translation gains.

My personal desires diverge from what I believe the FIA wil do. When comparing to Formula E, and the net-zero narrative in Formula 1, it is likely that the FIA will keep tight control on battery development, due to its high cost and material turnover, possibly introducing ‘spec-battteries’ with cross manufacturer compatibility and to even out the playing field.

F1 is destined to go electric, one day. Opening up battery development with its high R&D costs would create a meritocracy, with a lot of winners, and a lot of losers. Smaller teams who cannot afford the complex batteries have an equal say to the corporate governance decision making within the FIA as the larger teams. At the moment, neither battery weight limits nor the maximum voltage requiremntents are specified.

Could opening up development in the future, with high retained profits, lead to the possible inauguration of the mythical solid state batteries?