So, What happened at CES?
First off, today as I finish writing this for tomorrow’s post, today was our fifteen year anniversary! Woohoo! We thought we’d be lucky if we lasted longer than a ham sandwich. Over 350 shows later, we’re still here!
While we’re waiting for our season to fire up on April 6, assuming we have decent weather, we thought we’d talk a little bit about CES this year. The show happens every second week of January in Las Vegas and what happens there, impacts you. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. Just ask your doctor.
CES once stood for “Consumer Electronics Show,” but because it’s no longer just about consumer electronics, they decided to rename it “CES.” They are so clever. They sent out a memo telling the press not to call it the “Consumer Electronics Show” anymore. That’s like flying into SEA and not calling it Seattle anymore. I know, let’s not use our names and just go by our three-letter initials.
Four of us Thugs attended, with a few E@RTC regulars; me Vic, Jason B, and Behan along with Greg W and there were others who were there but we just couldn’t connect. For those of you old gangsters, Behan was one of our early Thugs and helped scale up our thuggery when we really needed it. He was famous for recording bad behavior in front of him. Some of you remember him as “Fez” or as Fowler called him, “our ambiguous foreigner.”
Pre-CES as we all arrive, all eighteen of us.
Yeah, we had a good time as we always do, so I don’t need to get into it. You can still assume that if you’re in Vegas, someone somewhere ends up with underwear on their head and a burning sensation “somewhere” and just leave it at that.
Vic and Tom along with John E and Michael G attending CES January 2009 at Scarpetta where we made the decision to get moving on launching E@RTC.
Vic and Tom at CES 2024 sitting at the same bar, like we never left, still having laughs at each other’s expense after fifteen years. In another fifteen we’ll be wheeling each other in.
Vic and I were at CES together with two other exotic owners fifteen years earlier at that very bar when we decided to kick off E@RTC. The old photo was taken from the opposite direction at the same bar the night we decided, “Let’s do it!” We didn’t have our location nailed down just yet, but we agreed to find one someplace and as soon as we got back from the show. We immediately started to put our plan in motion a few days later and we kicked off February 14, 2009.
Vic and I have been attending CES every year for over 20 years, and Vic even longer than me, so we’ve watched this go from basically another SEMA to a future view of automotive technology. We’ve witnessed a lot of changes along the way.
Generally speaking, the USA has fallen far behind other countries when it comes to innovation. If you saw how little US invention was happening at Eureka Park this year, the startup section of CES, you’d freak out. It’s really bad.
When we started E@RTC, CES was dominated by US computer companies, and Microsoft was the largest participant. Now, US companies are a small fraction compared to Asian countries who now completely dominate CES. They also seem to dominate in attendance. What the hell happened to the US? We’re definitely sliding.
Most of the big advancements in automotive are either Tesla or Chinese automakers who are eager to enter the US market and are turning out some great looking cars. Their cars were a lot nicer than I was expecting, especially at the price point. It could be that they have the crash integrity of a baggie so until we see them tested, we won’t know if that price point is a pound for pound match.
The Chinese and Koreans have much better design sense than the Japanese, who seem to be obsessed with making everything look like a clown car. The big push remains EVs despite the fact that consumers don’t seem to want them outside of Tesla. Fisker has issues. The fit and finish was horrible and I’ll get into that some other time. We’d love to see Fisker do well, but what we saw was terrible.
Geely Galaxy E8 This is an entry level car expected to sell for around $25k and it looks better than any other entry level car in the US.
The fit and finish was on par with Toyota yet the E8 had a more tasteful futuristic interior.
Why is it when US automakers build a cheap car, they go out of their way to make it look so cheap even your mom won’t ride with you in a bet? Yet, these other nations are going in the opposite direction, making cars that actually look more valuable than they are.
When it comes to the EV parade, Toyota was smart enough to not listen to the press and didn’t dive onto EVs like fat guys on cake, and they are wildly profitable while the others are all sucking air like freshly caught fish on a hot summer day as they lose money on every EV. Mainstream EVs are not selling and inventories are high everywhere. It’s so bad that Ford might offer a giveaway sweepstakes. First prize is an F150 Lightning. Second prize is two.
All automakers are still working on their autonomous driving solution, and I did see a small autonomous bus making the rounds in Vegas in the wild for the first time. It was running on city streets and nobody looked terrified or was trying to break a window to get out. I was looking for that bloody hand streaking the window, but everyone seemed happy and alive.
The NIO ET7 With still too many bumps that scream special needs. Notice the paint doesn’t yet fully match.
Still, a nice looking car in spite of all the bumps they try to hide.
While decent fit and finish, it still lacks interior details making it a bit sterile for the US market, but I liked the materials.
There are basically two different mindsets about programming autonomous EVs. One is software LIDAR and lots of cameras, and every instruction written in code, line by line. The cars come out looking like they all have tumors and have way too much crap hanging off them to be the least bit appealing. They just scream that the driver is in a “declining mental state” with all the safeguards of someone who has no idea where they are going.
Then you have Tesla, whose OS is based on photo-learning after billions of crowd-sourced miles driven. There was never a line of code written to get a Tesla to stop at a stop sign. Because it’s what drivers do, it’s learned to do it too. I fully expect to see Tesla share their technology with others and spin off their OS as a unique operating company all on its own someday, sort of like Microsoft with Windows only better and it won’t “crash” as in, “has anyone over there seen my arm” versus just a restart.
Another Honda in a very long list of products that never come close to market.
Another Honda NGTH (never going to happen) clown car. Isn’t she a thing of beauty?
Don’t get me started on Honda. In all the years I’ve attended CES, Honda has never once turned out a product in the US market that they show at CES. It’s the easiest thing in the world to make wild promises, it’s another to deliver. It took Honda eighteen years to build the HondaJet. I now ignore most of what they do and just call it cute. If any company deserves the Elizabeth Holmes award it’s Honda.
Cute, but will they make it?
We didn’t see the big push for US cars like we did last year. It’s like they all said, "Screw it," and went home. I didn’t get the impression these Chinese companies were chasing Tesla. No, I think they are chasing and surpassing GM, Ford, and Stellantis. None of the big three attend CES because they have nothing groundbreaking to show. It’s like the Cybertruck came out and the others all said, "F*ck it," and went back to the basement to sulk. It’s the Asian countries who are advancing everything automotive and are taking on the entire auto industry. Korea isn’t slowing down either.
Over the years, Chinese consumer electronics and just about everything have come way up in fit and finish. There was a time when you could spot a Chinese TV from 20 feet away because the corners didn’t fit. Not so anymore. Their cars looked perfect but have a few nuances, such as smaller instruments and screens, and they are dominating consumer electronics. Still, they were all nicely done with features you’d only see in more expensive cars. To me, they are making the biggest leaps forward. If they are reliable with decent structural integrity, the US is going to be too far behind to catch up anytime soon. They make the big three look like American Motors.
As we see these prototypes and early examples come to the US, we will try to get these companies to bring something to E@RTC as I think we’re the place to showcase the future of cars. We’ve always wanted to do that. Besides, what’s more exotic than a prototype?
By the way, we never saw a Cybertruck at the show, but don’t discount its influence in everything automotive. It’s the biggest leap in automotive since the original Tesla S, and no other brand has made a bigger jump in technology, so you haters, give it a rest; this is the most forward-leaning mainstream car on the road today. Get over it.
It was nice to see the iX used as a media demonstration platform because of what’s coming.
I now have an iX-50, and I love it. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best car I’ve ever owned even though to some of you, it’s pure camel toe. I’ll write about why I think it’s significant, and if you get a chance to drive one, go do it. It’s one of the most underrated SAV to come out in recent years. Just go drive it and then argue about the front. Check out all the reviews too.
I’ll write something about the state of EVs. I do think they have a place in the automotive world, but I’ll wait and get into it on another blog.
Once again, for those who like the writing and humor here, I now have a Substack page just for you that’s for the stuff that doesn’t belong here. It’s free until someone gets mad.