IS INDYCAR’S HYBRID ENGINE A GAME-CHANGER OR A $1 MILLION BATTERY?

STEAM CORNERS, Ohio – Trying to get IndyCar Series drivers to agree on anything is difficult as opinions often vary inside the garage area and team transporters. 

That is certainly true of the IndyCar Hybrid Engine that will compete in competition for the first time in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. 

For the first time in IndyCar history, there will be an electric component combined with the Internal Combustion Engine that can regenerate through a variety of tools including braking, the throttle and paddles and buttons on the steering wheel. 

That will charge a battery that was designed to give each car an additional boost of power when engaged.

The Hybrid was supposed to debut in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10 on the street of St. Petersburg, Florida. But development and reliability issues, combined with a supply chain trying to keep up with the necessary parts to guarantee every car will have a reliable unit, forced IndyCar, Honda and Chevrolet to delay its implementation until after the 108^th Indianapolis 500. 

In May, IndyCar decided to being the Hybrid Era with the July 7 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. From that point forward, all IndyCar races will include the newly designed engine. 

Some have called it a game-changer for the series. That IndyCar is attempting to become more relevant with the technology of the times and prepare for an era that depends less on fuel-power, and more on electrification. 

IndyCar hopes it can encourage new engine manufacturers to join the series with this new platform.

 “You have to bring hybrid in,” IndyCar team owner Michael Shank told NBCSports.com. “You got to bring hybrid. 

“In my opinion, hybrids are almost more important than full electric.” 

Others have called the program a “$1 million battery” saying the additional hybrid doesn’t produce enough extra horsepower to carry its weight. 

The hybrid assist unit adds an additional 100 pounds to the car and the weight to horsepower ratio is impacted, that could limit the amount of speed produced by the new unit. 

NBCSports.com was at The Milwaukee Mile on June 11 when 20 IndyCar Series cars and drivers spent a full day testing the hybrid on the 1.015-mile, flat oval. That included a series of simulated races, including a pace car and pit stops to helps drivers and teams get a better understanding of the capabilities of the new technology.

Team Penske’s Will Power was the fastest of that session at 161.521 miles per hour in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet followed by teammates Josef Newgarden’s 160.759 mph in the No. 2 Chevy and Scott McLaughlin’s 160.639 mph.

 The track record during the current IndyCar era is Dario Franchitti’s 170.840 mph in 2011. The overall track record is Patrick Carpentier’s 185.500 mph curing the CART era of 1998. 

The current cast of IndyCar Series drivers all agree they would like to see more power out of the unit. 

“What did I think of it? Honestly, we haven't really used it much,” Pato O’Ward told NBCSports.com. “To be very honest, I think we're not we're not really exposing its limits yet, so it doesn't really make much of a difference if you use it or if you don't use it.

“I would like to see what we can, as a series, really extract more from it, because I think where we are with it right now, the difference and the change isn't big enough in order to be like, ‘Oh, you know, we're using the hybrid.’ 

“It’s kind of is just not really, yeah.” 

O’Ward completely understands it’s a new unit with new technology and IndyCar is more concerned about reliability in the beginning than increased horsepower. The driver at Arrow McLaren hopes in time, IndyCar, Honda and Chevrolet allow more charging power and more horsepower from the unit. 

“I think it's just a work in progress,” O’Ward said. “But the more that we can use what this hybrid system can bring to the series, I think the better it is going to be. 

“I think right now we're all working within certain limits that we can work with and it's just it doesn’t really change the way if that explains it. 

“I think a lot of the guys are probably not even using it and I wasn't I wasn't really touching it yeah.” 

The performance and relevance of the unit is on a track-to-track basis. The Hybrid Assist and Push-to-Pass can be used at the same time on street and road courses, but not on the ovals. 

“You can definitely feel it's somewhat working, but it's very minimal,” O’Ward continued. “I would like to see it different; I would like it to be a bit more of a shift in terms of performance and just what we get to feel and as well for the fan.

“Chevy and Honda along with the series have put in so much money into developing this thing. 

“For the amount of money and the amount of work that's gone into I'd hate it to just see it stay like this because to be honest it really does no difference. 

“So, with the bursts of hybrid the push-to-pass boost feels quite a bit less So its kind It just takes its place in a way.”

It gives drivers such as O’Ward options, however. They have another tool to work with in qualifications and in the race, which can create a busy environment.

It also can increase the performance in qualifications, creating a race of the first drivers and teams to figure out when and where to use it. 

“I think the issue that we're going to run into is the gains that it gives you aren't big enough in order for you to shift focus on actually trying to use it the most efficient way possible versus just trying to make a perfect lap with a good setup and everything,” O’Ward described. “That's what we're running into, it’s where there's still a way to go in order for it to be like, ‘OK, it is definitely the way to do it and we have to use it in order to really have a shot at the Fast Six or whatever. 

“Right now, there is more lap time in actually making sure your car and your setup is good and perfecting how you get through a corner versus like, ‘Oh, I need to engage it here.’

“I think they the tires are going to deg (degrade) more, so I think sometimes it'll actually push you to not use it.” 

During the test, several drivers and engineers discovered that when the unit regenerates power, it disrupts the balance of the car. 

“I think it's just it depends on how aggressive you are on the regen really,” said Christian Lundgaard, currently at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Raceway, but set to become one of O’Ward’s teammates at Arrow McLaren in 2025. “Some laps I prefer it's it is regenning more than others depending on what the balance is. Sometimes you just prefer it to stay stable and not really regen just turn it off. 

“Luckily, we have the tools in the cars nowadays to be able to do that, which is which is nice, but it's going to be tough in in race mode. Obviously, we'll see that later today where we're going to do some traffic running and seeing how it's going to turn out.” 

Lundgaard doesn’t believe any of the drivers at Mid-Ohio have yet to discover the optimal way to use the hybrid system. That will create a challenge. 

“We're trying to figure out how much we really need a regen for the amount we are allowed to deploy,

to not over deploy and then get into the point where it stops regenning mid-corner because you are at full state of charge,” Lundgaard told NBCSports.com. “That is the challenge because it depends on if you want to have it more aggressive, so you have a more consistent balance. 

“But it’s straightforward. You press a button, that's easy.

“You feel it deploy, but it's not mind-blowing. 

“It's a very mild push-to-pass.” 

Power has been involved in offseason testing with the system and had that has given the Team Penske star an advantage over some drivers who didn’t get to try the new system until a few months ago. 

He believes it can assist in passing, if a driver already has a good run on the car in front of him.

But on an oval, especially a short oval, that extra hp is mitigated because speed is determined on how well, and how fast, a car can make it through the corners without losing traction. 

“On an oval like this, the car makes the biggest difference,” Power told NBCSports.com. “A little bit of horsepower doesn’t matter if the car isn’t handling.” 

Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global believes understanding the system will be very important because the extra horsepower, used at the wrong time, or the wrong part of a race course, could cause a driver to lose control. 

“I think it's going to be easier to make mistakes with this,” Ericsson told NBCSports.com. “It's going to be a bit more difficult, but that's why we're here you know we're some of the best drivers in the world driving these cars. 

“If it were easy, then everyone could do it. 

“If you deploy in the middle of the corner, you're definitely going to put yourself in some trouble or potential trouble,” Ericsson continued. “You need to be precise in when you deploy and smart about it. 

“The same with the regen. That does things for the handling of the car when it regens into the corner or wherever you want to regen. So, it's definitely a tool that's from track to track from team to team from manufacturer to manufacturer you have different techniques on how to do it. 

“That’s what I like about it. That it's going to be something that you can do different to your competitors. Like everyone is using the optimal strategy and all doing that. I think the way the system is, manually, then you can do things differently than your other drivers out there. We will have to see a bit more. 

“I’m hoping it makes the racing even more interesting because you will have people doing it better than others and different than others and that will make it interesting to watch.”

Ericsson believes a successful driver is going to need the ability to utilize an array of tools and adjustments in the car at the same time as driving high speeds, inches from another race car.

“I think the drivers that has a lot of brain capacity is going to be the ones that comes out on top,” Ericsson said. “Even here on short oval, you have your weight jacker, you have your front and rear bar to play with, and now we have the hybrid unit, and different settings on that, and deploy and regen, there are a lot of things going on there behind the wheel. 

“And to do all that with tire wear, with cars side by side with you, it's going to be tough. And it's going to be tricky. And some drivers, they jump in, and drive and don't think about anything. 

“I think that's not going to work very well in these cars with the hybrid in them“

“The biggest thing for me is just going to be for the driver to be able to do all these things at the same time we need to drive as fast as possible driving wise, but you have so many tools now in the car with this added hybrid that it's going to be it's going to be tricky and I think some drivers going to make it better or will be better than others in this new era.” 

Last month’s test at The Milwaukee Mile was valuable because of the simulated starts and restarts. That created race-like conditions and allowed the 20 drivers a chance to see if it can greatly aid their ability on starts and restarts. 

“On the simulated restarts we were doing, when you utilize it, it's a clear boost,” Graham Rahal explained. “I would also say in traffic when you get really bogged down, it was nice to be able to pull the deploy and really feel a lot of gain. 

“That can make racing quite interesting, I think. As challenging as it is to remind yourself of it all the time, I think the net effect is going to be positive. 

“It’s not second nature yet, but you'll get more used to it with time, that's for sure.

“There was a lot in my brain today as far as to figure out in a short period of time. I think it will become more second nature. It will get better. 

“There's a lot to learn. There's a hell of a lot to learn in a very short period of time, unfortunately.” 

Like any new form of technology, there will certainly be failures. There will be unexpected problems that were not anticipated.

But like any new form of technology, there will ultimately be solutions and improvements.

“I think it's early days,” Rahal said. “Everybody has to be patient with it, too. F1 didn't start with the same power that it delivers today in their first gen. Let's give this thing some time to develop. I think it has big potential.

“For me today it was a bit of a zoo trying to figure it out in a short period of time. There's a lot happening. This is a very low-grip track. You're sliding around so much, too. Not the easiest thing to do to remind yourself constantly to hit the button. 

“I think in the end, as it does become second nature, it will be fine. We just got to give it a little bit of time to develop.” 

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500