politically-charged \u201cmoon<\/a>\u00a0shot\u201d 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\u2019s career as one of the nation\u2019s foremost EV innovators \u2014 a logical marriage of his U-of-M-honed computer engineering degree and his childhood passion for tinkering with go-karts.<\/p>\nI sat down with the 30-year GM veteran at Volt 2.0\u2019s launch in Sausalito, California, to talk electrics, EV-1, and farms.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0What was your first car?<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a01976 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.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0Spoken like a true motor-head.<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0Well, 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<\/i>). And on a farm you have a lot of space and everything needs fixing.<\/p>\n
Q<\/i>: Did you want to be an engineer when you went to University of Michigan?<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0When 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\u2019m actually a computer engineer by training, and my masters is in electrical science for the application of computers \u2014 specifically embedded systems like microcontrollers and engines, transmissions, batteries. I used to hate the question: \u201cHey, I want a computer \u2014 which one should I buy?\u201d And I\u2019d say: \u201cWhat are you going to do with it?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d I\u2019d say: \u201cDon\u2019t buy one.\u201d This was all before networking. What has really cracked that market open is the getting and sharing of data \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0The 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.<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0A pipeline to the car. It\u2019s like I said, PCs were nothing until you had connectivity to other PCs. Now that the car can share data with X, it\u2019s going to open up some additional things I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0Before Volt you worked on the ill-fated EV1?<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0EV-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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0Will 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?<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0I definitely see the technology moving into other parts of the GM\/Chevy family, specifically the Malibu hybrid. That only makes sense.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/i>\u00a0What\u2019s next?<\/i><\/p>\n
Farah:\u00a0Electrification 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If the classic, 1970s Chevrolet TV ad were recast for the 21st century, it might go like this: \u201cBaseball, berries, crunchy granola, and Chevrolet Volt.\u201d So pervasive is the stereotype of Chevy\u2019s green plug-in that the \u201cFather of the Volt\u201d himself, Bob Lutz, once joked to Stephen Colbert that it would attract \u201ca lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17288,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287\/revisions\/17288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Andrew-Farah\"](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/966c46f35bb30a0239abd9b855e4e1602574bd21\/c=166-0-2833-2000&r=x404&c=534x401\/local\/-\/media\/2015\/10\/02\/DetroitNews\/B99310833Z.1_20151002215757_000_GSQJOIS1.1-0.jpg\")
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