Williams Advanced Engineering, the supplier of the battery packs for the Formula E electric racing series, has announced that the maximum power output of the racers’ batteries will increase to 170 kW for season two of the Championship.

The battery packs use cells from XALT Energy, and have maximum usable energy of 28 kWh. The maximum power level for season one was set at 150 kW, and the batteries demonstrated excellent reliability, with only one on-track failure in all eleven races of the season.

Williams performed extensive tests to assess the feasibility of a power increase, and has now confirmed that all teams will be able to race with maximum power of 170 kW during season two, which begins in Beijing in October.

Meanwhile, Williams developed a 70 kWh battery pack for Jaguar Land Rover’s Evoque-E demonstrator vehicle, part of JLR’s Concept_e R&D program. The underbody of the Evoque was modified to mount the battery pack and two electric axle drive units. The front unit features a single-speed transmission coupled with an 85 kW electric motor, and the rear drive unit has a two-speed transmission with a 145 kW motor.

Source: ChargedEVs