Big Highlights of Highly Interesting and Exciting 2022 LA Auto Show

★ On-Location Coverage, Photographed and Reported by Py Pai

★ W&HM - Wheels and Heels Magazine / www.wheelsandheelsmag.com / IG @wheelsandheelsmag

# 2022 Post-Pandemic Era of Los Angeles Auto Show

LA Auto show this year has come out from the pandemic era and continues its grand tradition of being a leading auto show on the west coast. All of the Los Angeles Convention Center Halls are occupied with shiny new cars and forward-thinking concept cars, as well as lifestyle fun consumer activities.

There are several key German car manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Audi are not in this year's show, stemming from the last year's absences mostly presumed due to pandemic-related budgeting and logistics complexity.

This gave the opportunity to the start-up companies to have a more prominent space to demonstrate their innovative or doing-things-differently type of offerings in the auto world. It's a bit like Sequoia trees in that big trees give sunlight space to the newly budding trees to have a chance to shine.

This always provided ample space for other car manufacturers to offer an in-person experience of their vehicles in the controlled test drive rides.

The Aftermarket Exhibit Hall is always fun and very friendly. The entire hall is filled with vendors with merchandise, service offerings, games, and of course show cars. This year, lowrider cars took the scene and brought some of the coolest custom classic cars to wow the attendees.

# Electrical Vehicles, EVs, The Full-Force Trend of the Show

One very obvious thing is the abundant electrical cars front and center in most car manufacturers' spaces. This is especially the case since the US has passed bills that hugely boost the EV incentives and infrastructure deployment to move electrical cars into the 21st-century energy proper mass adoption.

We eyed several EVs at the show, and here is a couple that we got interested in. The ones are the VW ID.Buzz and ID.4.

The slightly quirky but definitely fun Volkswagen ID.Buzz seems to be a great passenger bus to replace the legendary Volkswagen Bus. The cute name transformation from Bus to Buzz, as in an electrical vehicle is highly appreciated.

VW ID.Buzz is already in the EU market for a couple of years. It will be available in US marketing roughly at the end of next year (2023) or 2024. We are sure that there will be many sightings of this cute and sweet passenger bus in the wild on US highways.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is currently available in the market. it can take the driving range of a single full charge to around 252 to 280 miles. It's a full four-door passenger car that can comfortably seat 4 people, but 5 if needed. It has a traditional exterior look of a passenger car and a more traditional electrical vehicle's interior and panels.

The second one is more related to many US professionals and consumers, the Chevrolet Equinox pickup truck. The US has a strong pickup truck culture. Chevrolet Equinox is considered a strong contender in this mid-market segment.

Now this year's LA Auto Show, Chevrolet has brought the Equinox the first EV edition to the show. All-electric Equinox is here for the first time the Equinox system is fully electrical. Accordingly to the Chevrolet product specialist, the batteries run underneath the vehicle. So that's where all the batteries are the corners will probably be underneath the hood, but a lot of still the same safety features that you're going to get on a gas vehicle just on an electrical one.

The Chevrolet All Electrical Equinox will be out in the Fall of 2023. So basically it's' about a year from now on. The starting price is out at (around) 30 thousand dollars. The current gas version has a three-year 36 thousand mile warranty. Where all of our electrics going to be an eight-year, 100 thousand dollar warranty.

# LA Auto Show's One of the Biggest Hype of Toyota Prius 2023

If we talk about the hype buzz of the 2022 LA Auto Show, then Toyota Prius 2023 is definitely a top-grabber contender.

The new Prius 3. Prius 2023 has more horsepower. It sports a much better-looking and streamlined car design. It has a stunningly beautiful curve on the back side of the vehicle compared to the sharp drop of the current models. It has that sports car or futuristic feel to it.

An interesting take is that the back seat doors don't have exterior handles, which is a bold design choice

The all-new Prius 3 2023 periods up to 57 Mpg and is available in all-wheel drive. It has 194 horsepower. which is a lot more than the current version and 196 horsepower is also in the all-wheel drive.

It's available in 19-inch alloy wheels and a glass roof is both available. It sports a 12.3 inches touch screen. On the driving app platform, it can do both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

It's a very eye-catching and brain-cell-exciting vehicle to check out in 2023, or this case, at the LA Auto Show.

# Perfect All Cars Hands-On Opportunities

LA Auto Show is a perfect event for any car-interested person to have a personal experience with cars.

For example, here is a red Lexus convertible that seems to be expensive to buy and own. However, you can get into the car and get your hands on the steering wheel, imagining California wind across your hair and warm sunset on your face. If lucky, you can even turn on the multimedia system to experience the surreal audio surround. Lean back, push buttons, check out the panels, or even pop the hook and check the bottom of the car. It's all within reach just by going up to the car.

Many other manufacturers use various visually stimulating technologies to get people to come and appreciate their cars. That includes gigantic LED megatons, a replication of an outdoor park environment, and even a dog petting circle. It's such fun for both car enthusiasts and car-consumer families wonderland.

# Three Huge Test Drive / In-Person Experience From Hyundai, Ford, and Jeep

LA Auto Show has quite some available space in the absence of some car manufacturers. Therefore, there are many in-person experiences indoors right along test drives.

We took an in-person test drive of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 the current year model. The test drive shotgun ride experience demonstrated the electrical car's quietness as well as agility and super powerful drive. When it accelerates, it feels like you're in a jet fighter at acceleration. You can really feel the G-power in your body and especially your head. We thanked the test driver and jokingly mentioned that we just got a new hairstyle. We have to say that it's quite amazing to demonstrate so much in such a short indoor track. It's very cool.

# Many Concept Cars Showcasing

LA Auto Show always has cool concept cars on display. It's the car manufacturers' vision of future cars. Different companies have different philosophies about how cars should serve people, and what utilitarian purposes they can fulfill.

Hyundai's hydrogen concept car looks very retro (retro to the DeLorean days) yet, keeps future-looking styles in place. According to our go-to car expert, it would be even more ideal if they can fit it with an electrical power train to make it widely available across the consumers as well as charging stations.

However, concept cars are concept cars, we guess.

The Unusual Hyperion Hydrogen Electrical XP1 Hypercar is a head-turner. The hydrogen cell-powered car is definitely not your momma-and-poppa type of car that you drive to a grocery store. It's more like a club party car that you drive to impress people and social media. It just looks so different.

# The Buzzes and Vibes of Aftermarket Merchant Hall

The LA Auto Show Aftermarket Hall has many exciting vendors, and cars, especially lowrider classic cars on display. It provided a great marketplace for people to shop for their car needs, hobby parts, and more importantly, Christmas presents. It's a great family outing and car-lover marketplace.

# Our Cover Model, Feature Model, and More Models

We were soooo happy to see our cover model Lin Yeh and feature model Ashley Summer at the show! Lin was at Blaque Diamond Wheels and Ashley at Al & Ed's Autosound.

Al & Ed's Autosound is a staple of the LA Auto Show in the Aftermarket Hall. They are the first vendor you see when you enter the hall. They always bring ultra-cool rides to the show and make a row of must-photograph cars along the long convention center hall wall. On top of that, they always bring models to the show. Never failed, this time, they have our feature model Ashley Summer, and her sister Bryanna, together with another model at the show. It's a perfect car and model opportunity!

Also, there are a few more models that barely had a chance to take pictures of them, as they were busy with their vendors doing all different duties. We applaud their perky energy and bright smiles!

# Lowriders Showing Strong

There are many lowriders inside the Aftermarket Exhibit Hall. Even though they are in the back of the hall, they take up almost half of the venue with many pristine condition American classics. The shiny chrome finish on these cars is intricate and very eye-arresting. It's a great pleasure to see this many cool and well-maintained cars together on display.

# Legendary LA Auto Show Continuing a Grand Thanksgiving Tradition

The LA Auto show is always great to go to see new cars that are waiting for you to get in and give it a personal experience. No matter whether the cars are not yet in the dealers' parking lots, or it's already been in the market but you are dying to get an up-close experience with it, LA Auto Show is the place to be. Not just being there, but also bringing the whole family to it.

An additional beauty of the LA Auto Show is that it always falls on the Thanksgiving long weekend. That means the whole family can get a workout by going there after a big meal day and get a fresh new day with a new car smell around.

LA Auto Show is an icon of the LA scene. Not only it anchors the auto industry presence on the west coast, but also represents a hugely vibrant auto culture in Southern California. It's a very fitting event for the family and a car-friendly lifestyle here.

We look for it every year and bring it to you in a stunning presentation!

Here are more coverage photos from the W&HM's in-person coverage: