Parity in place for Gen3 era

Formula E and the FIA will boost performance parity for customer teams under the future Gen3 rules by mandating that their cars receive the same software upgrades as their respective manufacturer teams for each race.

Longer-lasting generational rules cycles have allowed the hardware to converge around single-motor, longitudinal configurations, which has increased the emphasis on optimising data to improve efficiency. So far, it has not been mandatory for manufacturers to supply up-to-date software to their customers, although Audi currently does for

Envision Virgin Racing (below). It will now be required on a race-by-race basis.

FIA director of FE and innovative sports projects Frederic Bertrand said: “Up to now, the car from the manufacturer was delivered and then additionally the team could provide some software and updates on the performance side. This is no longer possible in the next generation. The car will have to be delivered updated in the same way the works team car is. Every race, the manufacturer will have to provide to the customer and to its works team the same type of software.

“We had the feeling some could deliver the car, but at the end if you don’t get all the side upgrades and software management system delivered with it, then the guys are not able to be competitive at the end because they’re losing too much time to recover.”

This comes on top of new measures to ensure manufacturers who quit the series during Gen3 will have to supply powertrains to any customers until the end of the rules package in 2025-26.