Payne Q&Auto: EV-pioneer Farah talks Volt 2.0

Posted by hpayne on October 5, 2015

Andrew-Farah

If the classic, 1970s Chevrolet TV ad were recast for the 21st century, it might go like this: “Baseball, berries, crunchy granola, and Chevrolet Volt.” So pervasive is the stereotype of Chevy’s green plug-in that the “Father of the Volt” himself, Bob Lutz, once joked to Stephen Colbert that it would attract “a lot of very nice, no-makeup, environmentalist women.”

“A little crunchier,” joined in Colbert.

Yet, the “Government Motors” car once derided by Republican candidate Herman Cainas “Obama’s baby” is hardly the product of sandal-wearing, anti-car hippies. Indeed, Lutz and Chief Engineer Andrew Farah are unabashed motor heads who cut their teeth on fast cars and fossil fuels.

As its founding fathers suggest, the peppy, high-tech Volt is more than meets the eye.

Four years after the electric vehicle’s launch, the tire-smoking, MIG-flying Lutz has moved on, but the formidable Farah remains. Their off-spring has evolved from apolitically-charged “moon shot” to a second-generation Chevy mainstay. If Corvette is a supercar for the masses, then the 2016 Volt is an EV for the average buyer. It is the pinnacle of the 55-year-old Farah’s career as one of the nation’s foremost EV innovators — a logical marriage of his U-of-M-honed computer engineering degree and his childhood passion for tinkering with go-karts.

I sat down with the 30-year GM veteran at Volt 2.0’s launch in Sausalito, California, to talk electrics, EV-1, and farms.

Q: What was your first car?

Farah: 1976 Chevrolet Blazer K5, four-wheel-drive with a 400-cubic inch small block and a 400 Turbo-Hydromatic 3-speed transmission and a two-speed gear case.

Q: Spoken like a true motor-head.

Farah: Well, I took it apart a number of times to fix … my own damage. I really enjoy cars. As a kid I had a number of go-karts, snowmobiles, motorcycles. I had the greatest advantage: My grandmother had a farm (Ed. note: in Davidson, Michigan). And on a farm you have a lot of space and everything needs fixing.

Q: Did you want to be an engineer when you went to University of Michigan?

Farah: When I first got to college I was a physics major. Then I figured out that getting a job might be a little difficult so I went to my next favorite thing which was … computer programming. So I’m actually a computer engineer by training, and my masters is in electrical science for the application of computers — specifically embedded systems like microcontrollers and engines, transmissions, batteries. I used to hate the question: “Hey, I want a computer — which one should I buy?” And I’d say: “What are you going to do with it?” “I don’t know.” I’d say: “Don’t buy one.” This was all before networking. What has really cracked that market open is the getting and sharing of data — specially embedded systems like the ability to network in the car which has opened up great, new possibilities. So I am really doing what I set out to do.

Q: The first-generation Volt introduced an advanced computer-driven powertrain, but now you are the intersection for other digital applications like 4G WiFi and Apple CarPlay.

Farah: A pipeline to the car. It’s like I said, PCs were nothing until you had connectivity to other PCs. Now that the car can share data with X, it’s going to open up some additional things I’m sure.

Q: Before Volt you worked on the ill-fated EV1?

Farah: EV-1 was a great car for what it was. It was a two-seater, had limited range, was a bit eclectic looking, and people either loved it or hated it. The first generation Volt had a sort of moon shot mentality: We’re going to take everything we know about electrification and move it to the next step, The Gen 2 refines all that . . . and expands it into a mainstream vehicle.

Q: Will the plug-in move beyond the Volt just as Toyota has put hybrid in all its vehicles? Or will Volt always be a singular GM model?

Farah: I definitely see the technology moving into other parts of the GM/Chevy family, specifically the Malibu hybrid. That only makes sense.

Q: What’s next?

Farah: Electrification still has a long way to go. But there are other areas important in the industry (as we) move to a more urban society. The concepts of car-sharing, automated driving, others sources of energy. . . . I want to continue to be on that cutting edge.

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