Kai-Uwe Salzmann, the president and CEO of EDAG US, attended this year’s LA Auto Show with Volker Amelung who is the EDAG US Senior Project Manager in Los Angeles. The Auto Show took place from November 17th to November 26th at the LA Convention Center.
When many people think of California they think of the heavy presence of the tech industry, which recently has become a beacon for emerging electric vehicle technology. California is a hub for EVs since it has Silicon Valley and Los Angeles-based start-up companies and encouraging electric vehicle innovation, through their laws relating to electrification. The state has a goal that all new vehicles that are sold in 2035 and afterwards are categorized as zero emission vehicles: including battery (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and fuel cell cars (FCEV).
Out of the 24 Automakers in attendance each displayed at least one electric vehicle, which is a testament that EVs are here to stay. Many new electric vehicles debuted with emerging technologies that have the potential to change the trajectory of the automotive industry.
Highlights of the auto show included the Lucid Gravity, the company’s cutting-edge fully electric luxury SUV. It has a projected range of 440 miles, has a proprietary powertrain that peaks at over 800hp, and can comfortably seat up to seven.
Hyundai displayed their new 2025 IONIQ 5 N, which is the most powerful Hyundai ever made which has the equivalent of 600 horsepower and is an EV. Amazon and Hyundai have announced a partnership to begin selling Hyundai cars through Amazon in 2024. Further simplifying the car buying process for customers. This also extends to having Alexa integrated into Hyundai vehicles by 2025 and the company moving to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for their cloud provider. Amazon plans to extend their car buying experiences to other companies as well in the future. This can be transformative in the EV space, due to laws in Michigan and some other states automakers and dealers are required to be separate entities. This targets primarily EV manufacturers, but they can deliver vehicles within the state. The partnership between Amazon and Hyundai could be transformative for the car-buying process.
The Kia EV3 and EV4 concepts were also displayed, which would further expand Kia’s electric vehicle offerings, also making the lineup more affordable for consumers. Kia’s advancement in the EV space has allowed the company to grow from an ‘underdog’ position in the United States. They have garnered a high growth in their sales. This in part is thanks to their “Plan S” rebrand with an emphasis on sustainable mobility. Their targeted efforts have helped them to climb the ladder as far as share in the EV market.
In addition to the move towards electrification automakers are also making considerations on ways they can be more sustainable outside of just batteries, extending to fabrics, dyes, plastics, and more. Lucid specifically states that they are committed to sustainability in all of their car designs outside of having zero-direct emissions they also ensure efficiency across all of their vehicles and powertrains. Lucid is a great example of a company using environmentally sustainable materials within their production as well.
The mobility space is evolving at a near unprecedented rate largely due to the switch to Electric Vehicles of various kinds. With the changing market it can be difficult to stay at the forefront of all of these technologies and offer customers the most innovative solutions to their challenges. The ability to adapt to constantly shifting markets is just one way that the EDAG Group stands out from the rest!