Hi friends
The Los Angeles Auto Show concluded this week. Taking advantage of the long Thanksgiving weekend that I was fortunate enough to enjoy, I went down to LA to check out what the show had to offer.
This issue covers everything that caught my eye.
Buckle up!
Fisker’s Flamboyant Fanfare
Fisker doesn’t get much airtime on CarTalk because, well, they don’t give me much to talk about. At the LA Auto Show however, Fisker’s footprint was front and center as soon as one entered the main hall. The centerpiece - Fisker Ocean! The Ocean EV is supposed to be “the most sustainable car on the planet” with vegan interiors and recycled materials. It comes with ~350 miles of EPA range and costs $69k.
Fisker’s booth spared no expense in letting the world know they’ve (sorta) arrived. Here are some things that stuck with me:
“Hollywood Mode” - The center screen in the Fisker Ocean will be vertical when the car is driving (like the older Tesla Model S and X) but auto-rotate and turn horizontal when the car is parking (like the Tesla Model 3). Is this the best way to do Infotainment? You tell me!
“Solar cells as range extenders” - The booth managers solemnly told me that solar cells on the roof of these cars will add an extra 2,000 miles of range per year to my driving. Is that the best way to extend range? You tell me!
“Magna does the hard stuff” - Fisker didn’t hide that they would subcontract the production of the cars to Magna - it was splashed across all banners. Outsourcing production allows Fisker to keep designing things like Hollywood Mode, leaving Magna to figure out volume production. Is this the best way to build cars? You tell me!
“All-in on subscription”: You can own a Fisker for $379/month with a deposit of $3,000. Don’t have that kind of cash? You can even finance the $3k deposit and drive away with $0 down. Is this the best way to …. you get the idea!
They start production a year from now, deliveries in 2023. Good luck, Fisker. I mean, Magna!
The Koreans Are Krushin’ It
Hyundai was at the show, looking to the future, letting it be known loud and clear that they are on a path to carbon neutrality.
There was a Hydrogen fuel-cell truck on display (no, they didn’t let me enter the cabin.. I asked):
The big draw, however, was the Ioniq 5. This is Hyundai’s long-awaited EV and was seen on US soil for the first time I believe:
Hyundai has spec’d the car aggressively:
300 miles of range for the single-motor variant
800V battery pack architecture for fast-charging (only Porsche Taycan and Audi e-Tron have 800V packs, most other OEMs are still on a 400V architecture)
Bi-directional charging: your car can run your home appliances, if you’re into that sort of thing
Built on a scalable platform architecture called Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) that can be extended to mid-sized vehicles and will also be used by sister company Kia.
Look at those futuristic headlights:
And the equally futuristic matrix brake lights:
I posted a little clip on Twitter; some of the finishing will require a bit more finessing:
Recall the E-GMP platform I was referring to? Kia had a huge display showcasing the skateboard design:
Kia’s EV6 will be based on the same E-GMP platform as Hyundai’s Ioniq 5:
Hyundai also unveiled their concept car called “Seven”, which wasn’t really meant to be taken seriously (in my view). “Seven” was Hyundai’s interpretation of a self-driving robotaxi fleet car:
Nice try, Hyundai.
Vietnamese EVs Are Coming for US Markets!
VinFast, the Vietnamese car company, debuted their EVs - the VF e35 and VF e36 - for the first time ever (I believe) at the LA Auto Show.
Here’s what the Vinfast booth rep told me:
“These cars are like Teslas. You sleep behind the wheel and they drive themselves”. Errrr, no. Clearly they slept through that portion of the training!
“I think they cost between $30k-50k but I’m not sure”
“We’re opening 60 locations - I forget whether it is in CA only, or across the US”
“The cars will be manufactured in Vietnam. But could be manufactured in the US too”
“Battery pack production is in-house, pretty sure”
It was clear that they had scrambled to put together the exhibit and train reps for the show. But I don’t put too much stock into what a contracted representative told me.
The cars looked good. I hope they are affordable. I did sign up for a test drive. They promised me they’ll bring the car to my house by next summer. Can’t wait!
Porsche Pretties It Up!
Porsche had their own little party going on the side. An impressive party, might I add!
Soon as you entered, a receptionist was positioned to explain Porsche’s subscription program to you - the Porsche Drive. There it is again, subscriptions! Front and center.
A shiny Taycan followed soon after:
Lots of pretty cars (mostly non-EVs, but they were so nice to ogle at):
With the Taycan, Porsche have had a solid EV offering for a while now. Why their valuation (or parent company VW’s valuation) isn’t ballooning like some of the newer EV entrants, I couldn’t tell you!
Gaslighting and Greenwashing Galore
More than one OEM was in there claiming how they’ve been at the forefront of electric vehicle revolution for decades, whereas out in the real world they have yet to offer credible EV offerings. Not going to name names here, but easy enough to guess. It helps that the White House has been supportive of this gaslighting in recent weeks. Along the same lines, this is a good tweet:
On greenwashing, while many traditional OEMs had exhibits emphasizing nature, sustainability, blue skies, blue oceans, Subaru’s exhibit deserves a special mention. Before the LA Auto Show, Subaru had shown little to no intent to fully electrify their fleet. On the one hand, way to be behind the curve! On the other, they’re keeping it real and aren’t concocting stories just to gather headlines!
At the auto show however, Subaru unveiled their first-ever EV called Solterra. This car is built off of a platform that is shared by Toyota (another EV foot-dragger). The exhibit was entirely greenwashed to look like a national park, with tunnels and treehouses:
The Subaru Solterra:
The car above shares the same platform that Toyota is using for their new EV offering called bZ4X (which sounds like someone’s password):
The vehicles look so similar, don’t you think? The Japanese giants are relying on the same platforming strategy as the Korean OEMs (Hyundai and Kia using the E-GMP platform).
In any case, Toyota and Subaru both look to have credible EV offerings on the horizon. I, for one, am super excited about them!
Other Interesting Stuff / Companies I Hadn’t Heard Of:
Electra Meccanica’s three-wheeled electric vehicles, meant for small commutes, were out in full force:
I’m probably not the first person to find the resemblance here to the 3-wheeled car that used to always tick off Mr. Bean!
Edison Future’s truck are big and very reminiscent of Tesla’s Cybertruck. They sport a couple of futuristic features, e.g. the side-view mirror is replaced with a camera (would love to hear what the regulators have to say about this - hope they allow it!). Also, optional solar panels on the roof! Price? No idea.
Imperium EV - a company I had never heard of in my life - showcased everything from electric last-mile delivery solutions, electric trucks, SUVs, even motorcycles! And you know what? The products looked pretty decent!
The selling price on each of these vehicles wasn’t atrocious! Going to keep a close eye on these guys.
Indi EV (again, never heard of them) had a car with three screens all in the front:
Their rep confided that the powertrain strategy (“where are the battery packs coming from?”) is yet to be nailed down. Good luck!
Mullen EV continued the series of EVs I had never heard about. Good news is that these guys at least know where their powertrain is coming from - Hofer (who I also haven’t heard of)
I’ll stop here.
In summary - this was a day well spent! My main takeaways:
The normalization of EV continues - While the show still featured ICE staples, every manufacturer tried their best to highlight their electric offerings and greenwash their past. As more and more of these auto shows take place in the heartland of the country - Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta - they will make electric vehicles more accessible to even greater numbers of people. In my book, this is a major win.
Tesla continues to inspire and be the gold-standard - I don’t like talking about my employer on CarTalk but everywhere I looked, I saw inspirations from and comparisons to Tesla. Whether it was in vehicle design (door handle, lighting, steering), technology features (infotainment, ADAS), business models (direct to consumer) - Tesla was everywhere even without any formal presence at the show.
Vaporware - I’m afraid so much of what I saw will never be seen on the roads. Vaporware serves a purpose though - it gets people excited and gets them talking. Again, a win in my book! And I do wish each and every participant the best. Here are two of the best photos I took at the show:
That’s all from me folks! Have a great week!
👇 Please hit the ❤️ button below if you enjoyed this post. Or leave a comment!