INDIANAPOLIS — On the second floor of a posh steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis, just days before their engines would be put to the test against each other in the Indianapolis 500, Chevrolet And Honda sat next to each other and toasted.
Together with their rivals, they worked to take the IndyCar Series into a new era.
In the corner, on a stand, stood the product of their work, a hybrid unit that fits neatly into Dallara’s existing chassis and works with each manufacturer’s existing 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines. Once installed, the first-of-its-kind design promises to dramatically change the way IndyCar racing is conducted.
“It’s going to be a huge change,” said Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. “We think we have an idea of what it’s going to do based on the testing we’ve done with the hybrid. But it’s going to be different for everyone.”
They will discover exactly how different this is this weekend.
After failing to produce any issues during a final full test on June 11, the hybrid system is set to make its debut on Sunday at Mid-Ohio in a regular-season IndyCar race presented, appropriately enough, by the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid.
“I think we are well positioned for this,” Arrow said McLaren Team Principal Gavin Ward, whose teams in Formula 1 are already familiar with hybrid systems. “We were keen to have hybrid. We were keen to have the hybrid system in general. We are looking for a new car. We want areas where we can really catch up. Frankly, this is an opportunity for us.”
Back to the Future
The push for hybrid technology began in earnest years ago, when Chevrolet and Honda sought to better align their racing programs with shifting consumer demand for hybrid and electric vehiclesUS automakers are struggling with declining electric car sales, even as investing billions to produce them in the hope that Americans will embrace battery-powered cars. Last year, sales of electric and hybrid cars rose to more than 16 percent of all light-duty sales, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Initially, engineers struggled to fit an entirely unique hybrid unit into an IndyCar chassis designed more than a decade ago and to work with engines that had been perfected in almost as long.
It was only when engineers from Chevrolet and Honda – fierce rivals on the track, but allies in this particular discipline – decided to each focus on a small part of the bigger picture that the project got off the ground.
Chevrolet turned its attention to the motor generator unit, or MGU, which produces electricity when a driver brakes or changes the throttle position. Honda focused on the energy storage system, or ESS, which stores electricity in 20 ultracapacitors.
The components work together in a system that fits into an empty space in the bell housing, between the engine and gearbox.
Starting with his first real test on Sebring As of last August, the hybrid system has racked up more than 20,000 miles in development, with teams trying it everywhere from oval tracks like Indianapolis Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway to tracks at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and Road America in Wisconsin.
“The partnership between Chevrolet and Honda has been phenomenal,” said IndyCar president Jay Frye. “The IndyCar-specific hybrid powertrain is a dynamic and engineering marvel, and we are fully committed to its successful introduction.”
So committed that despite numerous delays that denied IndyCar the chance to introduce the hybrid system at the beginning of the year, the decision was made to implement the technology at Mid-Ohio in the middle of the current season.
It would be like changing the rules of football during half-time, except that players wouldn’t be allowed to race around a race track at 200 mph.
“We just want to introduce it at the right time,” Ward said, “and I think mid-season is pretty aggressive.”
How hybridization works
“The world is changing. We all know that,” said David Salters, president of Honda Racing. “We want to be a part of it, to be responsible. We want to train our engineers. And we want to show what we can do. Racing is meant to have some kind of innovation, and it is. This is new.”
IndyCar is in some ways lagging behind the competition in the fight for hybridization.
Formula 1 began tinkering with kinetic energy recovery systems 15 years ago, and new engine regulations made hybrid engines standard a decade ago. Similar designs have been used in prestigious endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona, while an entire series — Formula E — has fully committed electric cars during the past decade.
NASCAR is expected to unveil a prototype electric stock car at this weekend’s race in Chicago.
In other respects, the product the Chevrolet and Honda engineering teams are developing is entirely new.
Instead of relying on heavy batteries In order to store energy, like the hybrid systems found in other racing series, IndyCar has turned to ultracapacitors. While they may not hold as much power, they do have a number of advantages: they are much lighter and provide quick, powerful boosts, which can be deployed by drivers in a manner similar to existing push-to-pass button.
The boost produces about 120 additional horsepower, bringing the total number of IndyCar engines above 800 for the first time in decades.
“This system is really our first step,” said Eric Warren, Global Executive Director motorsport competition for General Motors“It gives us an option that fits into the current car. It’s something that the teams can handle. It gives a driver more control and as an engineer we obviously like more options. And it gives you a different strategy to go for.”
It should speed up races in a different way: drivers can use the electrical energy to power their own engines. In the past, crew members had to use an external electric motor to start the engine at the start of a race or if a car stalled.
Arrow McLaren isn’t the only team with hybrid experience. Most of the major IndyCar teams — Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Andretti Global, among others — have worked with them through their IMSA sports cars programs, which went hybrid last year. Andretti has an all-electric Formula E team. IndyCar owner Roger Penske’s son, Jay, also has a Formula E team.
As for the drivers, most have tested the hybrid system enough to have an idea of what to expect. But they also admit that the learning curve will be steep as they get to grips with the nuances, such as when to deploy that extra dose of power.
“I think it’s something that our series needs,” said Santino Ferrucci, who drives for AJ Foyt Racing. “In terms of technology, adding that hybrid is going to add a completely different dynamic for a driver, and I think it’s going to make the series more challenging and it’s going to be more rewarding for those who can process faster, adapt better.”
Yet the hybrid system also marks the end of an era in IndyCar.
“We’ve grown up falling in love with this sport with the framework of what it is now. At the same time, when you look at where the world is going, where manufacturers are going, you have to evolve,” said Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi. “It’s an exciting time for the series to take that step into the future. It’s something that’s important for all of us and the partners involved.”
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