The Los Angeles Auto Show, one of the first indoor auto exhibits since the COVID epidemic, was low on news and heavy on vaporware. During the two press days coming up to the event, however, a few cars, technologies, and companies stood out. Here are the cars and themes that caught our eye in Los Angeles this year, for better or ill. The subject of the day was sustainability and climate change during the big news conferences, which were few and all held before noon on Wednesday. Greenwashing and genuine action mixed.
Before launching their all-electric concept vehicles and plug-in hybrids, Hyundai and Kia produced film intros emphasizing the need of becoming environmentally conscious. Fisker spoke about the need of protecting the ocean. Subaru, which has a long history of supporting environmental projects and has spent a significant amount of money supporting everything from national parks to animal rescue, emphasized its continued dedication to environmental friendliness.
While this has happened before, it is crucial to remember that the whole auto industry has been slow to innovate around sustainable manufacturing and sourcing, as well as developing methods to recycle and reuse components and cars that have reached the end of their useful life. At many press briefings during the event, the grave warning that we only have ten years to mitigate the human effect on climate change repeated.
The near-production version of the Fisker Ocean, an all-electric SUV with a gigantic 17.1-inch screen that can swivel 90 degrees to shift from landscape or “Hollywood Model” to vertical, was one of the more exciting reveals this year. When the Ocean is parked and charging, customers may play games and watch movies in landscape mode. Fisker claims to have patented the swiveling screen technology.
This year LA Auto Show’s overarching theme was (unsurprisingly) the electrification of everything. While there were plenty of ICE-powered vehicles on display, the major news was battery-powered automobiles, everything from the all-electric Nissan Ariya SUV and Toyota bz4x and its Subaru Solterra twin to one of our favorites, the all-electric Porsche Sport Turismo sedan, and wagon with their magic roof.
As the epidemic enters its third year, automakers are increasingly thinking about how to protect us from becoming sick. At the LA Auto Show, Hyundai introduced the SEVEN SUV concept, which has features like as vertical airflow, antibacterial copper, and even a UVC sterilizer.
