LA Auto Show

I've gone to the LA Auto Show for several years before the pandemic. I haven’t been to the show since 2018. So much has changed.

There was a huge focus on the cars were the electric cars.

The show felt smaller. There were fewer people, which for an introvert for me was actually great. The car show pared down a lot, with several brands such as Mercedes, BMW, Mini Cooper, etc. Because there were less brands, there seemed to be more space for indoor test drives. While the test drives were fun, it is sad to miss some of your favorites. I didn't even see a Jeep Renegade, so it seems even the brands that did show up had a pared down inventory for whatever reason.

We got the early bird tickets, which meant we were able to get into the hall an hour earlier (8AM) at nearly twice the price as a regular ticket. It was nice seeing the floor while it was pretty empty.

We got to ride the Jeep track with zero wait. The track was as terrifying as it looked. We were driven by a professional driver--there was no way they were going to let lay people like us drive that track! They demonstrated driving the Jeep over stairs, tilted the Jeep on a curve, and finally climbing up and down a very, very steep hill. The best part, on top of all of these already amazing parts? The Jeep was in electric mode the whole time.

    Jeep track

    The Ford cars were not yet available for test drive until 9AM. I was looking forward to test driving the Mach-E. They made you breath into a breathilzer before you drive. You sign wavers and papers before you go. There were already a few people lined up at 9AM after we decided to walk around before heading back to the line. The line wasn't terrible, and even after our test drive, there wasn't a line.

    With the Mach-E test drive, we drove the car around the convention center. Our guide Juan was very friendly and displayed huge confidence on me (a stranger) and my driving skills, which I appreciated as I got a bit too deer-in-the-headlights and forgot his instruction  ("You go up this ramp--this ramp, this ramp!"). I had a great time and driving the Mach-E was interesting. The one thing that trips me up is how removing your foot from the accelerator basically brings the car to a stop. That would definitely be something I'd need to get used to when I get my own Mach-E... someday. :)

    Tips:

    • Prepare a throw-away email address. The test driving is free, but at the price of providing information.
    • Bring your credit card. The LA Convention Center is cashless--even for parking.\
    • Enjoy fhe freebies! We got a free Ford hat for our Mach-E test drive. We could have alternatively picked a Starbucks gift card (I forgot the amount), but you can't put a price of unique gifts!
    Ford hat

    Information

    Event
    Year
    Date
    11/20/2022
    State