Over the course of a couple days at the end of this past week, IndyCar’s two engine manufacturers Honda and Chevy put the latest iterations of their new hybrid system to the test.
After having completed tests on road courses, a simulated street course in the form of Sebring, and a short oval, the new system was finally given a run on the 2.5-mile oval of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Six drivers hopped behind the wheel with the new systems affixed, and up to four cars were on track at a time. In all 1,325 laps were turned around the famous track at speeds over 220 MPH.
They tested all aspects of the hybrid power system, including deployment and regeneration of the super capacitor, drafting techniques, and of course reliability of the system.
IndyCar officials were on site to participate in the testing of the components that are due to be implemented for the full 2024 season, as were many high-ranking engineers from both engine manufacturers.
Matt Niles, Senior Engineer at Honda Performance Development, is the project lead for HPD’s version of the hybrid components, and offered his thoughts on the tests so far.
“I think, yeah, we’re pretty set on where we are with the energy storage [capacity],” said Niles. “I think we’ve been finding out how all these different components survive in this environment.
“The vibration is unique. Also the temperatures that we deal with. We’ve been learning a lot about that. But I think going forward, a lot of it is really how we use the system and the parts and pieces we have, and how that’s regulated on track and how the drivers use it, how the engineers interface with it, how we go racing.
“That’s where we’ve been going through sort of street course at the short course at Sebring, we’ve been running short ovals, road courses, and now we’re here at this hallowed ground to see how it works here.
“We just kind of have to go back through all the data, start making some decisions on how we go to St. Pete.”
IndyCar’s implementation of hybrid components has been a long time coming, and was delayed for a couple years due to complications surrounding the pandemic.
The system is also unique among other racing series that have their own electrification components.
IndyCar devised a way to stick with its existing 2.2-liter engine, and placed the super capacitor energy store within the bell housing, which sits between the engine and the gearbox.
This allows for a direct attachment to the drivetrain, and also keeps the entire package small and light, which is crucial for an open wheel car.
Different levels of driver control have been tested throughout the development cycle as well, with every option from manual regen and deployment to fully automatic usage through software programming put through its paces.
When the driver is in full control of the system, the clutch pedal on the steering wheel is repurposed as the regen paddle, and a button on the front of the wheel deploys the stored energy.
The final decision about how the hybrid power will be controlled has not yet been made, but the goal for IndyCar officials is to get that finalized soon. And the goal for Honda and Chevy is to get the new components sent out to all the teams in time for them to have the system implemented at the first race in early March.
“I think to get all the teams have their hands on it, our goal is to have that before the end of the year,” continued Honda’s Matt Niles.
“I think getting all the parts and pieces in place by St. Petersburg is going to be a challenge. But that’s what we do here, is challenges. So we’re going to keep pushing ahead and get it done.
“We had [steering wheel] paddles on the car already. Using that for regen seemed like the natural thing to do. We had to do some software trickery to reassign the clutch paddle for use while out on track.
“But it seems like it could work, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out here today and tomorrow, is get the drivers out there together and see if we could get it to work in a pack.”
Although secretive, the two-day test was presented as successful. Drivers were able to drive in a pack, plan their regen strategies, deploy extra power for a pass, and all the things they expected to be able to do.
A couple of the drivers with the most experience testing the hybrid systems were part of the test at Indianapolis, with the two most recent series champions Will Power and Alex Palou providing their insight.
Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, and David Malukas were also part of the test, and were able to give a wide range of feedback to the engineers directing the procedures.
The feedback from all sides was positive, and there was next to no downtime due to technical issues or repairs. Driver’s thoughts instead focused on the differences in driving techniques to fully utilize the hybrid power.
“I have to say, in qualifying, you’re going to be pretty busy on that first lap,” said Will Power describing how an Indy 500 qualifying run might proceed. “Pretty sure you regen on that lap, decide when you deploy.
“Between that, the weight jacker, switching the fuel slot, and the bars, yeah, pretty busy qualifying.
“As soon as you’re in the draft of someone [during the race], you’re going to be regenerating. Then you’re going to be trying to time that deploy of what you want to pass.
“Maybe you’re not going to get him and switch off and regen again, wait for a better run. I think that will be really based on how you’re running.
“Yeah, I think you’ll try to keep that tank full. Instead of hitting the limiter or lifting, you’ll grab the paddle to regen. Yeah, it will just be a constant changing thing.
“I think [IndyCar officials] are still playing with the rules, because you may have it where you have auto regen and deploy, but you also have the ability to pull the paddle. Instead of getting into the hard limiter in top gear, you use that as a regen tool.
“Yeah, it’s still a lot of stuff to go through. I mean, I have had a lot of miles in that thing. I think if you’re not having to pull that paddle [on the road courses], it would be an advantage because that is quite awkward on a road course to be grabbing that, hitting it every time out of a corner.
“I don’t think that will be the case. The last test we weren’t doing that. It was auto everything. I think they’re still kind of trying to understand how best to use it, which I think the best way to use it is to get the most out of it for lap time, which is using it as much as we can.
“At first, it’s going to be reliability.”
With four drivers running at a time without issue this past week, the next major goal is to have 10 cars on track at the same time.
Reliability is the number one goal for the system – teams would not be happy to have race retirements that are out of their control – and reliability is best tested with as many cars on track as possible.
A 10-car test, with 10 different teams on track at once, is currently scheduled for early December, and will represent a significant milestone towards the rapidly-approaching deadline that is the 2024 season opener.
For now, a bit of satisfaction as the system seems to have worked as expected while powering the cars for the unique demands of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
