Vehicles of The Future: Farrukh Malik Amperage Capital on The Leading Edge Technologies That Are Making Cars & Trucks Smarter, Safer, and More Sustainable

Soon, I see us becoming a true electric car industry, where our children’s first car will be an electric one. This also means we’ll see new/better battery technology and the integration of AI into our EV’s infotainment centers. We’ll even see our “smart cities” making our EVs smarter. Long term, I believe that the move to autonomous will have a clear focus on safety. Can you imagine a future with no more car accidents?

The automotive industry has been disrupted recently with exciting new technologies that have made cars and trucks much smarter, much safer, and much more sustainable and more environmentally friendly. What other exciting disruptive technologies will we see in the next few years?

How much longer will fossil fuel powered cars be produced? When will we see fully autonomous vehicles? Can we overcome the challenge of getting stuck in traffic? As cars become “moving computers”, do we have to worry about people hacking our cars? How else will our driving experience be different over the next five years?

To address these questions, Authority Magazine started a new interview series about “Exciting Leading Edge Technologies That Are Making Cars & Trucks Smarter, Safer, and More Sustainable.” In this series we are talking to leaders of automotive companies, automotive tech companies, EV companies, and other tech leaders who can talk about the vehicles of the future. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Farrukh Malik.

Farrukh Malik is CEO and Co-founder at Amperage Capital, a leading investor and operator, focused on addressing a large and rapidly growing gap in infrastructure to support residential electric vehicle charging solutions in apartment communities. Farrukh has 16 years as a serial entrepreneur solving some of the largest problems tied to infrastructure.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in the automotive industry?

I come from a world of infrastructure (assets such as toll roads, bridges, airports, and solar farms) and real estate technology. My career has spanned over 16 years across three continents building companies and leading investments in infrastructure projects. When I was thinking about what problem to solve next with my new company-and as an EV driver- the EV revolution was a no brainer as it’s the biggest transition the automotive world has seen in over 100 years.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

The need we have set out to address is well known, apartment residents need to have access to assigned EV charging, just like EV owners who live in single-family homes with garages. Hence, my co-founders, Kelsey Holshouser, COO and Shannon Johnson, CRO started Amperage Capital. Amperage Capital is an investor and operator, focused on addressing a large and rapidly growing gap in infrastructure to support residential electric vehicle charging solutions in apartment communities. We are currently in discussions with several large real estate organizations to help them solve EV charging.

How do you think this might change the world?

Honestly, mass adoption of EVs won’t happen unless we solve for the 35% of Americans living in multi-unit housing, as 90% of EV owners charge overnight. By giving multi-unit tenants access to EV charging, we are paving the way for EVs to become mainstream.

What are a few things that most excite you about the automotive industry as it is today? Why?

What excites me is the increased momentum the EV industry is seeing right now. New companies are being created to solve very specific problems across a myriad of segments including grid management, to renewable energy sources, hardware and software solutions, to consumer safety down to equity and education. There is no other industry experiencing this incredible revolution right now.

What are a few things that most concern you about the automotive industry as it is today? What must be done to address these challenges?

A few things that concern me boil down to the consumer level. Obviously, we need charging solutions for people who don’t live in family homes. Also, we need affordable EVs that come in more makes and models to appeal to more consumers. We need a more robust infrastructure so people can travel worry free across the US. The good news is that we are on pace. There weren’t a thousand different car models and gas stations on every corner when Ford produced his first car.

Based on your vantage point as an insider in the automotive industry, what other exciting disruptive technologies will we see in the next few years? Can you share some of the new developments that will make vehicles smarter, safer, and more sustainable?

Soon, I see us becoming a true electric car industry, where our children’s first car will be an electric one. This also means we’ll see new/better battery technology and the integration of AI into our EV’s infotainment centers. We’ll even see our “smart cities” making our EVs smarter. Long term, I believe that the move to autonomous will have a clear focus on safety. Can you imagine a future with no more car accidents?

How else will our driving experience be different over the next five years?

I don’t think our driving experience will change that much over the next five years, however in the next 20 years, there is a chance that our cars (now autonomous) won’t even have steering wheels, and you’ll navigate your car from your integrated headset.