Best cars of CES two thousand seventeen – almost the Car Electronics Demonstrate
Best cars of CES two thousand seventeen – almost the Car Electronics Showcase
LAS VEGAS – CES doesn’t want to be called the Consumer Electronics Showcase any more – just C, E and S. Just as well, because it could almost be called the Car Electronics Demonstrate. The North Hall of Las Vegas Convention Center was taken over by the automakers and suppliers, makers of car electronics such as Garmin, and a few resolute makers of aftermarket car speakers. Two of the principal keynote speakers were from the auto industry: Carlos Ghosn of Nissan and Jen-Hsun Huang of Nvidia (for all intents and purposes an automotive supplier now).
Where CES used to be shadowed by an unaffiliated porn display (in 2017, it’s held two weeks later), now there’s a major unaffiliated car tech conference, the Consumer Telematics Display (CTS). In brief, cars are big. Here’s a look at the automakers and suppliers who made CES two thousand seventeen fascinating.
Free rails of EVs and plug-ins
BMW i8 plug-in hybrid
The most visible automaker was BMW, with a big booth right outside the Las Vegas Conventions Center’s front entrances, next to the monorail station. BMW suggested ride-and-drives made available to the demonstrate’s estimated 175,00 convention-goers. That included the electrified or electrical with range-extender combustion engine BMW i3 urban commuter, and the plug-in hybrid BMW i8. BMW is effectively marketing the cars directly to showgoers who are also car buyers. Dealers can loosen; BMW isn’t selling the cars outright, just whetting buyer appetites.
A handful of editors and analysts got to drive BMW’s autonomous five Series prototype car – that is, the just-released two thousand seventeen Five Series showcasing its take on interstate capable autonomous driving at what amounts to SAE Level three autonomy (meaning the car can drive itself, but the driver has to be able to take over control).
North Hall not fully transformed
A handful of vendors of audio-video upgrade gear are still at the demonstrate, including what appeared to the last remaining vendor with booth models: Cerwin Vega.
The LVCC’s North Hall comprises 409,000 square feet, equal to 3-4 Home Depots or nine football fields. It used to be the province of upgradeable car audio components (some played real noisy) and booth models signing swimsuit fantasy posters, plus sellers of amplifiers, radar detectors, speaker cable, neon and LED exterior lighting, radar detectors, even illuminated tire valve caps. As of 2017, the bulk of the space belonged to the automakers, including Chrysler, Faraday Future, Honda, Toyota, Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz), Ford, and Volkswagen, plus the fatter audio vendors who do aftermarket as well as integrated new-car audio/movie such as Sony, Pioneer and JVC-Kenwood; plus GPS giant Garmin and graphics giant Nvidia, all working hard to expand their new-car head-unit business. Most of the big auto suppliers were outside in freestanding makeshift buildings, including Delphi, Mobileye, Valeo, and Visteon. Bosch was elsewhere inwards the LVCC’s Central Hall, since 40% of its business is consumer electronics and power instruments.
The automotive difference inbetween CES in Las Vegas and NAIAS (North American International Auto Display) is this: CES concentrates on the future of the automobile, plus directions being taken by the major component suppliers. It is not open to the public, albeit the estimated 175,000 attendees all buy cars. In contrast, the Detroit display concentrates on finish cars on sale now or shortly, plus concept cars to whet the public’s appetite for when the concepts become real products in three months to three years. The three Detroit display press days generate all the ink, but the week-plus of public shows is what matters to the automakers and dealers.
