Forget about easing into the new year––come the first full week of January, we’ll be headed to Vegas for CES, the tech industry’s biggest trade show.
The 2025 show runs from January 7–10 and, as usual, the week is jam-packed with keynote speeches, informational sessions, and exhibits on the latest tech innovations. Some of the keynote speakers this year are Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, and Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang.
Tech Brew is sending its transportation reporter to CES this year, so we’ve rounded up some of the mobility tech themes we’ll be keeping an eye on.
Get with the program: Major manufacturers––from Tier 1 automotive suppliers like Continental and Magna to OEMs like Honda and Toyota to industrial equipment bigwigs like John Deere and Caterpillar––will be there.
Hundreds of other exhibitors in the vehicle tech and advanced mobility sector will be there, too, from EV charging companies to AV sensor startups.
The schedule is chock full of mobility-focused sessions, including a presentation about how to use AI and data analytics to help address slower EV demand, a discussion led by Cox Automotive on the EV future, and opportunities around 5G.
And just a brief glance at our overflowing inboxes tells us we can expect autonomy-related announcements, at least one new EV charger debut, updates on cybersecurity software for the auto industry, a look at Sony Honda Mobility’s Afeela EV prototype, and much more.
We’ll also be listening for any discussions related to expected policy changes under the next Trump administration, like threats of new tariffs, changes to federal tailpipe emissions rules, and nixing at least some parts of the Inflation Reduction Act.
“I’m sure those discussions will be going on in the background and maybe even in the foreground,” Sam Abuelsamid, a principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights, told us. “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now.”
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Autonomous vehicles: There’s a lot happening in the AV space, from the prospect of the incoming Trump administration establishing a federal regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles that could speed their deployment to big plans to put more robotaxis on the road.
Jeremy Carlson, who leads autonomous driving research for S&P Global Mobility’s automotive team, told us he’ll be paying attention to the AV tech automotive suppliers have on display, since they’re generally working on products several years in advance and ahead of their automaker customers.
Another theme to watch: any updates around the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems, including the Level 2+ and Level 3 systems many automakers are focused on.
“There’s a huge amount happening [with lower levels of autonomy], and that is a little less exciting because it’s a little less revolutionary,” Carlson said. “It is big-scale and it is relatively lucrative for automakers and the supply chain. A lot of those then lead us into things like connected services and updates for those vehicles over wi-fi or over the air, delivering new functionality.”
UX: Abuelsamid has been to CES at least 10 times over the years, so he’s well-versed in the ins and outs of the show. This year, he expects a focus on the various ways that technology can improve the in-vehicle experience for users.
Examples might include in-cabin sensing (for example, tech that can detect whether a child is in the back seat), next-generation driver monitor systems that are getting increasingly better at detecting whether drivers are fully engaged, improved navigation systems, and software-defined vehicles.
“The user experience in the vehicle is maybe kind of the overarching theme,” he said.