The Chicago Auto Show is back at McCormick Place for a 10-day run beginning Saturday — only seven months after a special pandemic-driven outdoor version — and the atmosphere inside the convention center is decidedly electric.
Electric vehicles will be taking center stage at the annual show, with everything from an indoor EV test track to a slew of new model debuts, as the transformational technology gains traction among consumers and automakers alike.
“There’s definitely a lot more EVs ready to go to market,” said David Sloan, general manager of the Chicago Auto Show. “This is the year.”
A lot may be riding on the show itself, which is not only the first major convention center event of 2022, but also the first since the omicron variant hit in December. Early online ticket sales have been strong, Sloan said, and it could be an indication of whether people are ready to return to large in-person events.
The Chicago Auto Show was the city’s last major event before the pandemic hit in March 2020, disrupting both the auto and tourism industries. Last year, it shifted to July, with a smaller five-day summer edition that utilized indoor and outdoor exhibits at McCormick Place, as a pandemic-weary city began the long road back to hosting major events.
The 2021 summer auto show drew about 100,000 visitors, Sloan said. He declined to project attendance for the February event, but said advance online tickets were 40% ahead of the February 2020 show.
This year’s show will feature about 30 brands — more than the summer show but less than in 2020. It will also feature six indoor test tracks and three outdoor test drives, the most ever offered at the show, Sloan said.
Chicagoans will get their first in-person look at the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck, which was unveiled last month at the CES in Las Vegas. The truck, which starts at $40,000 and is expected to launch in fall 2023, is General Motors’ answer to the F-150 Lightning — Ford’s first electric pickup truck — which made its debut last summer at the Chicago Auto Show.
The bright blue Silverado EV on display at this year’s show is the fully loaded RST model, which features 400-mile range, 660-horsepower, 10,000-pound towing capacity and goes from zero to 60 mph in 4 ½ seconds — with enough high-tech bells and whistles to command a lofty $105,000 sticker price.
“This is a huge deal for Chevrolet,” said Nichole Kraatz, chief engineer of battery electric trucks at General Motors. “We really wanted to have a compelling statement for Chevrolet’s first full-size electric pickup truck, and it’s an amazing vehicle to offer.”
The first edition Silverado EVs are already committed to buyers, but future vehicles, from the $40,000 work truck to the top-of-the-line RST, can be reserved online. When your place in line comes up, you can build it to specifications, but don’t expect delivery until after the fall of 2023, Kraatz said,
The Ford F-150 Lightning is set to launch in the spring, starting at just under $40,000. Ford stopped taking reservations on the EV truck after reaching nearly 200,000 preorders, and is doubling production capacity to 150,000 vehicles to meet demand, the company said last month.
For this year’s show, attendees will get to ride shotgun in an F-150 Lightning, as professional drivers put the pickup truck and other EVs through their paces on an indoor test track.
“The majority of people who are considering an EV have never experienced one, either as a rider or a driver,” Sloan said. “So to have some here that people can drive or take a ride in is significant.”
Rivian, the homegrown EV truck manufacturer that launched production of its inaugural SUV and pickup at its Normal factory last fall, is once again a no-show at the Chicago Auto Show. The newly public company, which raised $13.7 billion through a massive initial public offering in November, has been struggling to keep up with demand for its $70,000 EV trucks.
Electric vehicle sales gained ground in 2021, making up 2.6% of the U.S. auto market, up from 1.9% the previous year, according to Edmunds. As new models come online and production ramps up, Edmunds projects the U.S. EV market share will climb to 4% in 2022, surpassing 600,000 vehicles sold.
Automakers are all in on the transition to electric vehicles, with legislation designed to accelerate the rollout of charging infrastructure, manufacturing and consumer adoption providing the industry with added incentive to evolve beyond the combustion engine.
But there is still plenty of gas-powered glory at the show, including the first look at the 400-horsepower Ford Bronco Raptor SUV. Among other features, the muscular-looking, rock-eating version at the top of the new-generation Bronco line features 37-inch tires, “the largest tire offered as standard equipment on a domestic production SUV,” said Arie Groeneveld, chief program engineer at Ford.
Reservations for the $70,000 Bronco Raptor begin next month, with production launching in the summer, Ford spokesman Jiyan Cadiz said.
As the Chicago Auto Show opens, production at the only Chicago auto plant has once again ground to a halt. Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant shut down this week because of the global semiconductor shortage, which has disrupted the auto industry since February 2021, halting production, reducing inventory and raising new and used car prices for consumers.
The city’s tourism industry has also been hard hit by the pandemic.
Since March 2020, there have been more than 230 events canceled at McCormick Place, costing the city about 3.4 million attendees and nearly $3.1 billion in economic impact, said Cynthia McCafferty, a McCormick Place spokeswoman.
In 2019, McCormick Place held 289 events with a total attendance of 2.9 million. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the convention center shut down and was briefly converted to an alternate medical care facility to handle overflow COVID-19 patients. Only 48 events were held at the convention center throughout the entire year, drawing 1.3 million attendees.
Last year, as vaccinations rolled out and restrictions eased, McCormick Center held 77 events but drew only about 674,000 attendees. This year, there are 152 scheduled events projected to draw 1.6 million attendees and generate $1.9 billion in economic impact, McCafferty said.
McCormick Place had 15 events in January, but started 2022 with a big hole in its schedule when the long-running Chicago Boat Show, which annually draws about 40,000 attendees, canceled for the second year in a row.
The decision, announced in November, predated the omicron surge, but was nonetheless driven by another pandemic-related scourge: supply chain issues. Increased demand for boats as a socially distant family activity paired with production disruptions left something less than a fleet on hand for this year’s event, according to Keith Ogulnick, Chicago Boat Show manager.
“It’s kind of hard to have a boat show without boats,” Ogulnick said.
Ogulnick said the January show accounts for about a third of local boat sales each year. When exhibitors that typically bring 50 to 60 boats to McCormick Place could only muster four or five, the lack of inventory sunk the event, he said. The Chicago Boat Show plans to return in 2023.
The next big show on the convention center’s calendar is the Inspired Home Show, which is scheduled for March 5-7.
The Inspired Home Show was the first major trade show to cancel at McCormick Place in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, costing the city an estimated $77 million in hotel, restaurant, transportation and entertainment spending.
The annual show, which is put on by the International Housewares Association, drew more than 61,000 attendees in 2019. It returns next month with high hopes but downsized expectations.
“No question we will have fewer attendees,” association spokesman Leana Salamah said in an email. “We have spoken with all of the major retailers and about 80% of them tell us that they do plan to send a group, but likely a smaller contingent than in years past.”
Salamah said the show normally gets 60% to 70% of its registration in the last month, and “for obvious reasons,” many people are delaying the decision a bit longer this year. The association remains “extremely confident” about putting on the show, she said, gauging the risk of COVID-19 transmission at less than 0.1% of total attendance, based on computational modeling and mitigation strategies.
At the same time, the association sees the upcoming show as a first step toward recovery and a more robust show in 2023, Salamah said.
McCafferty said the biggest show scheduled at McCormick Place this year is the International Manufacturing Technology Show in September, which is held every two years in Chicago. It was canceled during the pandemic in 2020, but drew more than 114,000 attendees in 2018.
Launched in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show went on hiatus during World War II as auto production was curtailed but hasn’t missed a year since it resumed in 1950.
Visitors need to be masked but do not need to show proof of vaccination to enter the show, which runs through Feb. 21. Vaccination cards will be required to enter the dining areas.
