Fanboost sign, Formula E, Morocco, 2018

Formula E drops Fanboost and confirms other changes for first ‘Gen3’ season

Formula E

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Formula E has dropped the Fanboost overtaking aid which has been a feature of the all-electric championship since its launch in 2014.

Fanboost allowed a selection of drivers, chosen by a poll of fans, to use extra power during the race. The removal of the long-standing and often criticised innovation was confirmed as part of a package of new rules which will come into force for the series’ 2023 season, the first under its new ‘Gen3’ formula.

The series will also introduce a new feature called ‘Attack Charge’ at a limited number of rounds next season. This will enhance the existing Attack Mode where drivers must run off-line at a specified point on the track during the race in order to activate a higher-power mode on their cars.

The Attack Charge rules will require drivers to make a mandatory pit stop, lasting 30 seconds and to be taken during a specific window during the race, in order to unlock more powerful Attack Mode periods. These will increase the cars’ power output from 300kW to 350kW.

Attack Charge will be made possible by the use of a new battery capable of receiving a 4kWh charge in 30 seconds. Formula E calls this “the most advanced [electric vehicle] battery in the world today.”

Formula E will also return to running distance-limited races set by laps, rather than being time-limited next year. However the race length may still be increased in response to Safety Car and Full Course Yellow periods.

“Switching to laps allows teams a greater degree of race strategy planning,” explained Formula E’s co-founder and chief championship officer Alberto Longo. “Introducing Attack Charge at races later in the season will add a whole new dimension to race strategy for teams and interest for fans.”

The series will also adopt F1’s rule requiring teams to run inexperienced drivers in at least two first practice sessions over the course of the year.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “Formula E drops Fanboost and confirms other changes for first ‘Gen3’ season”

  1. So they call pitstops “Attack Charge”. A shame they did not drop Attack Mode. So artificial. And the cars will look hideous next year. I stopped watching Formula E a few years ago. I see no reason to return.

    1. Attack mode is better than DRS!!!! You should resume watching!!!!!

      1. I’m an attack mode fan too.
        Happy to see fanboost die.

        1. +1

          Attack Mode is really not bad at all, unlike FanBoost. The key is that it’s the same for everyone – everyone has to take the stated number of Attack Mode periods during a race. In the absence of pit stops and weight variation due to consumption of fuel, it adds a good strategic element to the racing.

  2. Great to – finally – see Fanboost go. I am not necessarily against all new rules to spice up the show, but from day one Fanboost was nothing more than a competition of who was best at harnessing social media.
    “Attack Charge” is a bit of a cringy name, but the concept doesn’t sound bad. It might well function as the FE equivalent to pitting for new tyres.

    1. Getting rid of Fan Boost? Mickey Mouse will be gutted. I can’t think of any other sport where it is written into the rules that the fans get to give an artificial advantage to their favourite competitor.

      1. Especially in a world where racers represent countries of different scale so the playing field is never level. Was the worst idea in all of sports history. May actually consider watching FE now for the first time.

  3. I don’t know is this a good or a bad news.

    1. I’m happy to decide for you, if you like.

  4. Fanboost involved fans just like voting to driver of the weekend poll does in F1 with the notable difference that it actually presented a quick opportunity to overtake someone or to defend an overtaking manouvre. Questions were always raised about its fairness towards the drivers that didn’t receive it or even about its very existence but I remember it aiding quality on-track action, I can live without it nonetheless.

    I think attack mode is a really efficient way of emulating regular pitstops, where you sacrifice time and track position to be able to drive quicker on a fresh set of tyres and gain back the lost time and positions or even go further. Attack mode does the same on a smaller scale, similarily to moving forward a couple of meters from the dummy grid into the actual grid slots instead of driving a whole formation lap.

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