Formula E has done very little wrong since its inception nearly two years ago, however, a decision regarding 2018 may have just been its first mistake.

As reported towards the end of last week, the FIA has launched the tender process for a sole supplier of the chassis and a separate supplier for the batteries from the fifth season onwards.

The announcement of the second tender, at a meeting of the World Motorsport Council, was perhaps more surprising as the fifth year is the target for Formula E to switch from the current two-car per race format to just a single machine completing the current race distance.

The reasoning for the single tender is quite simple. It guarantees that should the series switch to a single car for every race from 2018 the battery in every car will be able to complete the distance and avoids a scenario when one supplier may be far ahead of another.

It also helps to keep the costs down for the smaller teams while allowing them to battle with the manufacturers like Renault, Audi and, from season three, Jaguar.

Finally, it makes is much easier for whoever is the chassis supplier for 2018 to design the second generation Formula E car but while that is very good for Formula E in terms of keeps it competitive, off the track it may actually be detrimental to the series’ prime aim of pushing the development of electric vehicles (EV).

Sure development is continuing at a rapid pace into the drivetrain, the regeneration of energy etc., and the areas of exploration will only grow as the technology evolves but for the big manufacturers surely it would be more beneficial for them to produce the entire power unit, including the battery.

It is likely the supplier chosen to produce the new Formula E battery would become an easy supply route for the carmakers, as they look to produce road cars using Formula E tech, but it does risk limiting development and creativity that perhaps personnel in other teams could come up with.

There are two alternative solutions that could have been or should be considered. The first would have been to allow those who want to produce batteries to do so. The current limits on power and range of the battery would have ensured the competition remained close.

Also, those potential suppliers should have been given a deadline, perhaps the start of 2018, to submit their designs and prove they would be capable of completing the full race distance within the set boundaries. That would also give the chassis supplier the chance to adapt their design to accommodate the different designs.

While that won’t happen perhaps the best solution is for the designers and engineers of the various interested parties to collaborate and come up with a single battery design. This means if Audi, Renault, Jaguar and NextEV work together for example, the final battery design can easily be transferred to all their road cars and the process included input from the smartest brains in the industry.

An independently developed battery won’t necessarily be a turn off for manufacturers, after all the current battery was created by Williams Advanced Engineering, however, as Formula E becomes more established, the balance between doing what’s best for the sport and for the industry will play a much more important role.

Ensuring Formula E remains the forefront of the push to EV’s is vital. As manufacturers that feel development is being held back by the sole battery supplier may look elsewhere to develop their own EV technology.