FIA president Max Mosley wants electric hybrids banned in favor of mechanical KERS

Starting with the 2009 season. Formula One teams are allowed to use kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) to boost performance. Over the course of the 2008 season, most of the teams started testing a few different systems with varying degrees of success. Many of these hybrid systems proved problematic, not to mention expensive, to develop. The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) met in London this week to consider further cost reduction measures in the wake of Honda's abandonment of the sport.
FIA President Max Mosely decided to weigh in with his own thoughts on the matter in a letter sent to FOTA members. Among those was his opinion on KERS implementation. Mosely expressed his feeling that the electrical systems, which are similar in principal to those used on road-going hybrids, should be banned from F1 in favor of purely mechanical systems. Mosely feels the battery technology available right now, primarily lithium ion, is unsuitable for the demands of F1 racing. Mosely doesn't explain precisely why he feels this is the case. Instead he says he prefers to see the development of mechanical, electro-mechanical and hydraulic systems. Whether any of this will have an effect, or even prompt teams such as BMW and Ferrari to abandon their development of battery hybrid KERS, is unclear at this point.

[Source: Formula1.com]