The war for electric cars is fading away. This is what the “new race” in the automotive industry is all about

Ashley Davis1 week ago

0 45 4 minutes read

Although the largest players do not shy away from electric drive, instead of competing for emission-free and battery-related achievements, they prefer to compete for the independence of their machines. The debate on the future of the automotive industry was shaped not by the battery, but by autonomy – and this year's automotive fair was under this sign. And the drive? The industry is not giving up on electric cars, but as long as there are people willing to buy combustion engines… most companies have nothing against it.

The rest of the article below the video:

Nvidia enters the game

The most expensive company in the world, which is today a symbol of the production of chips necessary for the development of AI, has ambitions to become a leading supplier of tools for autonomous vehicles.

— The ChatGPT moment for physical AI has arrived – when machines begin to understand, reason, and act in the real world. Robotaxi are among the first to benefit from this, said Jensen Huang, president of Nvidia, announcing the Alpamayo platform.

Jensen Huang focuses on cooperation with Mercedes

Competition between Mercedes and BMW. Tesla in the background

Cooperation with Mercedes is to be a solid trailblazer for Nvidia's new path. The German company showed its CLA electric car at the fair, which will premiere in the US later this year. The car will use solutions from Nvidia – the MB.OS operating system based on artificial intelligence is based on the American giant's software.

“As the automotive industry begins to implement physical artificial intelligence, Nvidia is becoming the core,” said Ali Kani, the company's vice president of automotive, at the event.

In the presentation, Mercedes focused on autonomy, not on the environmental friendliness of its new electric car. — Feel that the car is driving “on tracks” (…). It does everything, said Ola Kallenius, the group's CEO, describing his test drive in San Francisco.

Autonomy understood by companies is not only about driving a car, but also about ongoing communication with the machine.BMW, in turn, announced the next stage of cooperation with Amazon. The German manufacturer will become the first company to deeply integrate the Alexa+ assistant technology into its vehicles, starting with the iX3 model from the Neue Klasse series. The assistant will be implemented in the second half of 2026 in the United States and Germany. As Jörn Freyer, vice president of user interaction at BMW, argued, the system will work completely naturally, understanding the context of the conversation and having access to information from outside the vehicle.

And it will look like this:

And Ford also expressed the aspiration to develop its own assistant. — By designing software and hardware, we discovered a way to make this technology more cost-effective. This means we can implement advanced autonomous driving in the vehicles that consumers actually buy, and not only in models with exorbitant prices said Doug Field, Ford's chief electric vehicle and software officer.

Just as Chinese brands are increasingly boldly entering Europe, the aspiration of companies such as BMW and Mercedes would be to challenge Tesla on the other side of the ocean – for many years, Elon Musk's company was considered the forerunner of innovation in the sector.

There were also some slightly exotic and very futuristic visions. For example, Honda and Sony announced the construction of a blockchain-based mobile services platform and the “X-to-Earn” model, which will reward users and creators with tokens for their involvement in the ecosystem. This is a vision of the car as an open digital platform, a bit like a smartphone. Users would be expected to influence its creation and further development.

Sony Honda Mobility at the Las Vegas Convention Center

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DeeCee Carter/Associated Press/East News/East News

Are the Chinese getting ready to attack the US?

Just as the Chinese boldly enter Europe with their cars, they were also determined to appear at the fair in Las Vegas – even though some of them are not yet available on the American market.

Great Wall Motor came to Las Vegas with one of the largest automotive exhibitions at the entire fair. A company that generates over 40 percent revenues outside China, presented a complete technological overview.

She did not despise combustion engines – she presented, among others: new eight-cylinder engine. Why? The V8 is not a natural choice for Chinese brands, but a symbol of their aspiration to conquer luxury segments in the Middle Eastern markets. It is difficult to find more clear proof that the Chinese no longer want to compete solely on price.

However, the combustion drive does not exclude innovation. Wanpeng Li, head of GWM products, emphasized: “Tesla is doing well in the Chinese market and has its unique technology and advantages, but when it comes to driver-car interaction, we do it better. In terms of drive, luxury, comfort and safety, we are at the top of the pyramid.”

Cameras in a Waymo vehicle during the second day of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2026) in Las Vegas

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Christopher Trim/Associated Press/East News/East News

The Chinese brand Geely, which is absent in the US and was until recently supposed to be the main partner for the Polish Izera project, also appeared at the fair in the USA. The company presented its own artificial intelligence system. It plans to introduce level 3 autonomy on highways and level 4 at low speeds in 2026 (level 3 requires the driver to be ready to take control, level 4 operates completely autonomously). The most electrifying news, however, may be that the company's representatives openly talked about considering entering the US. The decision is expected to be made within a year and a half.