CES to go all-digital in 2021

CES will go all-digital in 2021, the Consumer Technology Association said Tuesday.
 

“Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said in a statement on the company’s website.

The organization said it will return to Las Vegas in 2022, combining the best elements of both formats.

The show is usually a key fixture in the technology calender, with major manufacturers showing off their latest innovations to a heaving Las Vegas crowd.

CES has become an important venue for for automotive brands to prove to consumers, and each other, that they are embracing the future of mobility.

Automakers, suppliers and startups alike have seized upon broad interest in autonomous-driving and electric-vehicle technology, often revealing their latest innovations in Las Vegas. Perhaps most notably, General Motors unveiled the Chevy Bolt EV at CES in January 2016.

Beyond one-off debuts, there have been roots planted from maintaining a physical presence at the show.

Aptiv spent so much effort preparing for its annual AV demonstrations at CES that it decided to make Vegas a permanent location for its pilot program. The supplier now has an operations center on the south side of McCarran International Airport, from which it now runs about 75 vehicles on Lyft’s ride-hailing network.

Some of the most anticipated aspects of the upcoming show included updated infrastructure – a new hall at the convention center was slated to open. And Elon Musk’s Boring Company was scheduled to start its people-moving service in January 2021.

Pete Bigelow of Automotive News contributed to this report.