CES: Sin City is the new (Electric) Motor City

Las Vegas — The 2024 Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center is a sprawling electronics buffet. There are giant TV and computer screens. The latest cameras, gaming consoles, and wireless headphones. And so much more, including voice recognition software, 3D printing, autonomous robots, artificial intelligence and massaging chairs.

And, naturally, electric vehicles.

Naturally, because the modern car contains all of the electronic products listed above. Stick a battery in its belly instead of a combustion engine, and it’s a rolling smartphone. No wonder, then, that CES, the world’s biggest trade show covered by a swarm of media, has become the show for EV news, presenting more competition for traditional shows such as Detroit's, where automaker attendance has shrunk in recent years. Even with the Detroit Three missing this year because of the UAW strike, CES 2024 was stuffed with vehicle debuts.

Honda Motor Co. introduced its 0 Series line of electrics, Volkswagen AG showcased its ID.7 EV — the first mainstream vehicle using ChatGPT, Sony and Honda rolled out an updated version of their joint Afeela EV sedan, Mercedes-Benz Group unveiled its electric CLA Concept, Kia Motors Corp. showed off a new line of electric vans, and Bugatti showcased its electric scooters (no, they don’t go 200 mph). Hyundai Motor Co. even debuted a vertical-takeoff airplane. Past Detroit Three debuts here have included the Chevy Silverado EV and Ram 1500 Revolution electric pickups.

The auto industry is hosting the most startups in 100 years, and CES was a showcase for their wares. Electric startups Fisker Inc., VinFast LLC, Turkish-based Togg and Mullen Automotive Inc. all were on hand, with the latter employing a staged introduction once common at the Detroit Auto Show.

“Today’s electric cars are not the traditional vehicles like we used to make,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in an interview. “They are not quite electronic appliances, but vehicles are moving in that direction with the pace of software development.”

Indeed, the Honda Saloon and Space-Hub EVs that Honda rolled out here might as well be electronic devices were they not on four wheels. Their yoke, e-steering wheels — like something off a game console — recede into the dash if passengers want to ride autonomously. Anticipating a self-driving future, the 0 Series vehicles are essentially smartphone extensions — a space where passengers can make phone calls and play games.

“Given the technological changes in the industry, CES is a natural event for automakers,” said Stephanie Brinley, S&P Global associate director of auto intelligence. “Auto brands are increasingly tech-based, which integrates well into a technology show.”

The Afeela concept (which a Sony pr—senter remotely drove on stage using a PlayStation 5 controller) is the first in a series of cars from a Sony-Honda joint partnership that explores, for example, connecting Sony’s millions of PlayStation users or streaming Sony-owned Columbia Pictures like "Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse" and "Bullet Train."

Volkswagen’s ID.7 sedan is sleek as a smartphone and integrates the latest smartphone craze — Open AI’s ChatGPT Chatbot — into the vehicle.

“Hey, Ida,” I queried the car using its ChatGPT voice recognition prompt. “Set the temperature to 70 degrees.”

The car complied. Then. . .

“Hey, Ida, I’m feeling hungry,” and the car responded to my offhand question (not the usual stilted command) with a list of nearby restaurants.

VW’s system competes with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Siri and has lots of room to improve. Like a smartphone, those updates will come OTA. And the feature is only approved for Europe, for now.

Traditionally, CES’s auto displays have been consigned to the LVCC’s West Hall, but so integrated are electronics and autos that vehicles displays now bleed into all three of the center’s halls. Electronic giants like Sony, Samsung and LG dominate CES just as the Detroit Three dominate NAIAS, but Afeela was adjacent to Sony’s display in Central Hall and Fisker joined Panasonic. Honda and Mullen were in the North Hall near displays for wireless tech and pool-cleaning robots.

“CES is a trade show — not a consumer show like Detroit — and it’s an opportunity for industries to see what the others are doing,” said auto analyst Brinley. “You may be a tech company that gets inspired by what an auto company is doing — and visa versa. It’s a way for businesses to build partnerships.”

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Tesla, which made the first smartphones on wheels, auto startups made a big splash.

Los Angeles-based Mullen’s display was stuffed with its array of brands including Oak Park-based Bollinger Motors, an electric truck-maker of which it is now a majority stakeholder. Key to the company’s future success is its Mullen Five SUV — a competitor to the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Mullen leapfrogged them both with a Five RS performance model that boasts a staggering 1,000 horsepower, 900 pound-feet of torque, a sub-2.0 second 0-60 mph dash and a drone that activates out of the rear hatch to videotape you in the act. The challenge? The Five RS will debut in 2025 for $295,000 — well above the cost of a $55k Model Y Performance or even a $110k, 1,020-horsepower Model S Plaid. Like VW's ChatGPT, Europe will be its first market.

Vietnamese EV-maker VinFast continued its determined bid to break into the U.S. auto market following Asian pioneers like Hyundai and Toyota Motor Corp. Following the three-row VF 9’s introduction last year, VinFast rolled out the wee, two-door VF 3 and mid-size VF Wild pickup concept — complete with a midgate like the Chevy Silverado EV.

For all their electronic synergies, EVs remain niche products in the U.S. market. Rush-hour traffic outside the LVCC on the Las Vegas strip featured few non-Tesla EVs.

“Electrification is here to stay, but it is clear we are now at an inflection point (beyond) early adopters,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker, in an interview. His plug-in Fisker Karma helped pioneer battery-powered cars in 2012. “We are now getting normal consumers into the vehicles and there is a different mindset. I don’t think (the $7,500 government incentive to buy an EV) is the right way to do it. I think we should spend money on infrastructure — the new consumer wants to know that they can find a charger.”

The real-world challenges of the electronic auto are right under the LVCC.

Elon Musk's Boring Company has built a 1.7-mile, three-station, underground “Loop” that shuttles passengers from the convention center to nearby hotels. Even though the Loop is a closed environment, the service’s Tesla Model Y and Model X utes do not use the brand’s autonomous Autopilot software. They are still driven by human pilots.  

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.