mercedes did not show the world’s most efficient electric car, the EQXX, at its home game in germany, but instead presented the economical electric car with 1.000 kilometers of range set aside for the navel of the new world.
At night, las vegas is ruled by luck. But by day, the auto industry wants to prove to us during the CES with an impressive appearance that their bet on the future is not a matter of luck. Because whether old giants or new players – the PS industry has equipped itself.
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Real or illusion? You never know in las vegas. And this applies not only to the stagings on the show stages, for the decollete in the casinos and the buildings on the strip, but this time more than ever also at the CES. After the world’s largest electronics trade show fled from the pandemic into virtual reality last year, trade show boss garry shapiro actually wanted to celebrate the comeback to corona this year. But then omikron got in the way and, despite strict hygiene protocols, a few key players opted out just before the premiere and went back to virtual after all. Amazon, google, intel, general motors and mercedes have therefore only gone on a digital business trip.
But whether in the flesh or only in the livestream, the auto industry has followed the CES’s pleasant advertising and made the electronics show its new leading trade fair. Detroit is forgotten, los angeles no longer interests anyone, and in retrospect the IAA also looks like second league – even if the brand-new and hugely large west hall as shapiro’s new horsepower palace this year was only very lightly decorated and you could see plenty of bare carpeting.
Anyone who doubts the new leadership role only has to look at mercedes and general motors. Some people didn’t show the world’s most efficient electric car, the EQXX, at the home game in germany, but instead bought the energy-saving electric vehicle with 1.000 kilometer range cancelled for the navel of the new world. And the others are celebrating the premiere of the electric silverado, a car that is likely to make a lasting contribution to the mobility revolution in america, just three hours by plane from their headquarters. After all, the pickup has been number 2 in U.S. statistics for decades and would have been a superstar at the Detroit motor show – if the trade show still existed in its old form.
Newcomers fill gaps of missing car manufacturers
And that’s not all. yes, the VW group didn’t even register without referring to corona, although no other car boss is talking as loudly about change and swearing by the software as group boss herbert diess. And with toyota or ford, two other giants are conspicuous by their absence, which represent a good part of the world’s automobile production. But first of all, stellantis is all the more present with the airflow, the first electric chrysler for the masses, or hyundai with a few visionary concepts for automated driving in the smart city or for fully robotized living. And secondly, the gaps are filled by numerous newcomers.
On the one hand, there is the electronics giant sony, which stands for the attempt of a hostile takeover and could put its first own car on the road even before apple, foxconn or xiaomi – not without reason, the japanese have already unveiled their second study with the S-02 in the style of the tesla model Y and have also already founded a corresponding company subsidiary.
And on the other hand, there are a few new countries that want to conquer the world in the slipstream of the chinese with their electric cars. From the east, this is primarily vinfast, which now has five e-cars on its stand, four of which are to be sold in europe this year and even built in germany, of all places, from around 2025 onwards. And from the south is togg, a joint venture of major turkish companies, which in the new year will first stir up the domestic market with an electric SUV as the centerpiece of a mobile eco-system and then, from 2024, want to conquer the rest of the world via europe. And so that you don’t deny them the necessary seriousness, they have not only already developed three series models, but have also brought a visionary study with them to las vegas, in which their digital dreams come true on large screens, in powerful chips and fast data lines.
CES 2022 Highlights
While the electric drive is the order of the day for the exhibitors in the west hall, autopilot is also increasingly taking its place: suppliers such as ZF and bosch are presenting and selling more and more systems that give the driver longer and longer breaks, and the studies without a steering wheel are becoming more and more realistic in the form of robotaxes and transport pods. Only the manned drones still seem rather far from reality and ripe for hollywood.
But even with that they fit well on the CES- after all, entertainment is also a big topic here. And not just in the halls with televisions large like house walls, but also here in the westhall. Because if the car becomes "third space, the third living space after home and office, the occupants should not have to do without anything in it. That’s why the screens like in the EQXX, in the togg or in the sony are getting bigger and bigger and the networking with the digital channels is making progress. Amazon, youtube and all the other online services are therefore becoming increasingly integrated in more and more vehicles- Soon, every car fan will be able to follow the virtual CES from behind the wheel and save himself the trip to las vegas.
The car has a future
Whether virtually or on site, anyone who turns off the screen or steps out of the halls leaves the CES with the confidence that, despite all the changes, the car has a future. And with the vision EQXX on the one hand and the electric chevrolet silverado on the other, mercedes and general motors are making it clear, despite all the newcomers, that this future will also be determined, at least to a large extent, by the old manufacturers even if the two perhaps most important cars of the fair were only digitally present and big players like the VW group, toyota or ford had not even registered for the fair.
But at least petrolheads are facing hard times- regardless of whether gasoline or electricity is still flowing through their wires. Yes, BMW is also showing the new ix M60 at CES as the first e-car from M gmbh and the first production model with more than 1.000 nm torque. And the electric silverado, with its almost 700 hp, has the sprinting power of a sports car. But a silver Arrow that, like the EQXX, can do just 140 km/h, a bugatti chiron that becomes a decorative accessory for a couple of kickscooters and, as the first innovation from the new seven series, a cinema-wide ceiling screen for the backseat passengers- you can worry a little about the joy of driving.