IndyCar to reduce hybrid power output for remainder of season

The IndyCar Series has informed its teams of a new plan to reduce the power output of its hybrid systems for the remainder of the season.

The decrease starts this weekend at Road America with the XPEL Grand Prix and will see IndyCar’s technical team make race-by-race adjustments to lower hybrid horsepower by anywhere from 10 to 25 percent based on the circuit.

Depending on the venue, IndyCar’s spec hybrid system can contribute approximately 50hp in short bursts. On ovals, the hybrid is the only power adder made available to drivers through the use of a button on their steering wheels. At road and street courses, the hybrid serves as one of two power adders as drivers are also given extra turbocharger boost through the push-to-pass system which can be used independently of the hybrid boost, or in unison to generate upwards of 100hp for brief periods to complement the 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6s made by Chevrolet and Honda.

“I think we’re talking a few tenths (of a second), not seconds of difference in lap time,” Andretti Global team principal Ron Ruzewski told RACER. “I don’t think it’s going to be a huge change.”

The change comes after a trouble-filled start to the season, during which ongoing reliability issues with the spec energy storage systems and the motor generator units have led to supply concerns for the series.

In dialing the energy harvesting and deployment numbers down to where the systems started nearly two years ago on debut at Mid-Ohio, the hope is to restore dependability with the units and safeguard the pool of hybrids in order to complete the season without facing a supply deficit.