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Alternatives to the Nissan Rouge2024 LA Auto Show Highlights
The 2024 Los Angeles Auto Show is wall-to-wall with innovations from new EV tech and wild concepts to burly overland rigs and powerful sports cars.
Mobility & More
The LA Auto Show is currently being held from Nov. 22nd through Dec. 1st to showcase the automotive industry’s latest innovations and upcoming models. Like most auto shows, the LA Auto Show features plenty of new and forthcoming EVs, lots of overlanding and off-road centric concepts, and more than a few highly anticipated new vehicles and exciting updates to existing ones. Below are just some of the highlights from this year’s LA Auto Show.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 & Initium Concept
Two notable cars from Hyundai were on display at the LA Auto Show, the new Ioniq 9 three-row electric SUV and the Initium hydrogen fuel-cell concept. The former is Hyundai’s version of the current Kia EV9 (these two corporate cousins share the same EV platform). Visually, the Ioniq 9 is a continuation of Hyundai’s digital design language with plenty of pixel-like elements and visually arresting wrap-around taillight element. The Ioniq 9 will carry a 110.3-kWh battery pack, even larger than that of the Kia EV9. That battery pack will allow the Ioniq 9 to offer a minimum of 300 miles of range on a single charge. Hyundai’s Initium hydrogen fuel-cell was also in attendance. The off-road focused vehicle features the same digitally inspired design language and lots of interesting flourishes like the light elements included in the roof rack.
Kia WKNDR Overland Van
If you’ve been to any automotive trade show in the past five years, you’ll know how popular overlanding has become. Kia’s all-electric WKNDR concept takes the overlanding van and gives it an unusual spin. Various panels open and extend to allow the outdoors in, creating an airy automotive space that includes a large central table, roof tent, and a rear-facing passenger side lounge seat.
Chrysler HALCYCON Concept Car
Despite rumors to the contrary, Chrysler is still a thing. And to prove it, the company was in LA to tout their new HALCYCON EV concept car. Some of the HALCYCON’s features have become standard fair for EV concept cars including the pillarless design, steering yoke, and expansive glass canopy. The HALCYCON does manage a few true innovations like making both the front and rear-hinging back doors all butterfly doors. Rather than a digital gauge cluster, the HALCYCON’s vitals are displayed exclusively on the car’s heads-up display. The HALCYCON was built with Level Four autonomy in mind. One resulting feature is Stow-N-Go rear seats that retract into the trunk and allow the front seats to move rearward for added legroom and relaxation.
Tesla Cybertruck and CyberCab
Not to be crowded out by traditional automakers and their new EVs, Telsa was on hand with various iterations of their Cybertruck as well as the newly unveiled Tesla CyberCab. The CyberCab is intended to autonomous-only and therefore skips having either a steering wheel (or yoke) or pedals. Tesla says part of their use case for the CyberCab is for owners to use them as autonomous ride share vehicles, allowing their cars to earn money when the owner isn’t using them. That sounds good in theory; we’ll update you on the reality, if or when the CyberCab makes it to production.
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 3LZ
The venerable C8 Chevrolet Corvette was also on display. And not just any Corvette but the most powerful Corvette ever, the new ZR1 3ZL which features a twin-turbo 5.5L DOHC V8 making 1,064 horsepower. Top speed is estimated by Chevy to reach 233 mph. The ZR1 is adorned with all manner of additional aero to make the most of that prodigious horsepower and a new paint color offering, Hysteria Purple.
Off-Road Toyota Concepts
Toyota is fielding two compelling new concepts in LA. The first is the Toyota Surf, named after the Hilux SUV of yore (the first-gen 4Runner in the US). This Tacoma-based concept is a two-door off-roader with extra-wide fenders and an open top design to compete with the Wranglers and Brancos of the world. The fact that open top driving is one of the main attractions for those two competing vehicles might at least give the totally gnarly Toyota Surf a chance to go from concept to production. The second off-roader from Toyota is also an open-top vehicle, the Land Cruiser ROX. Like the Surf, the Land Cruiser ROX opens the top and back while jacking up the suspension and widening the fenders. Here’s to hoping the typically conservatively minded Toyota loses their “good sense” and goes for it with at least one of these two wild off-road concepts.
Acura Performance EV
Honda brought plenty of practical vehicles to the LA Auto Show: Accords and Civics, et al. More compelling was the Acura Performance EV concept slated to enter production in 2025. If the car on display in LA really is that close to production, then the Acura Performance will be a bold departure from convention. Sitting atop Honda’s newest EV platform and built at their new Ohio EV plant, the Acura Performance EV features an origami-like front end, massive wheels, and a high beltline for a dashing and futuristic look.
Ford Mustang GTD and Lightning SuperTruck
Ford most notable offerings included the Mustang GTB, their GT car competitor to the Porsche GT3 and the aforementioned Corvette ZR1 (as well as the current ZO6). The GTB features some of the wildest aero on a muscle car since the days of the Superbird that includes a snow-plow-sized front spoiler and a goose-neck rear wing. If that wasn’t aero enough for you Ford also brought the all-electric F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. This truck is what engineering schools should use to teach students about all the possible aero bits you could deploy on a vehicle, all on one truck. There are flying buttresses, chin spoilers, a massive rear wing, side skirts … even the side mirrors have been replaced by little air foils. All these flaps and ducts allow the SuperTruck to produce approximately 10,000 lbs. of downforce at 200 mph.
Next-Gen VW Tiguan
Less outrageous but perhaps more consequential was the debut of the next-generation Volkswagen Tiguan, a critical vehicle in a hotly contested segment. The Tiguan fights for buyer’s attentions against the likes of the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Mazda CX-5, tough competition indeed. The next-gen Tiguan looks to win new converts with major updates including a new platform, a more powerful engine, and a revamped cabin which takes on a semi-luxury feel with a sumptuous design and flourishes like real wood trim.
