2026 just be like that: the Chicago Auto Show edition
January was a hell of a year — but we’ve put it behind us, which means it’s time for 2026 Chicago Auto Show! Here’s what you’ll want to see, what you’ll want to skip, and why I genuinely think EVs are the only thing holding this show together.
Like just about every other indoor auto show, the 2026 Chicago Auto Show is a mere shadow of its former self. Where the show once saw the worldwide debut of new trucks and vans and even the occasional high performance trim level in a massive, sprawling display that covered two main halls and spilled out into the main lobby, this year’s show couldn’t convincingly fill half of just one of the McCormick Center’s main halls, with Camp Jeep, Ford’s Bronco experience, and the ComEd-sponsored Chicago Drives Electric indoor test drive areas eating up massive gobs of space.
That said, despite the show’s declining stature and the increasingly long list of OE manufacturers skipping the event entirely, there was still plenty of good, bad, and ugly to see at the show, and I’ve got the rundown for you right here.
The good
This year’s Chicago Auto Show featured a number of Chicagoland car clubs ranging from Civic Nation-era Honda DelSols and JDM Silvias to Fox-body Mustangs and even some proper, old-school lowriders (bonus points to anyone who spots the ’48 Fleetline and clocks the swamp cooler). Adding to the vibe were Top Gear USA host Rutledge Wood and Fast and Furious royalty Sung Kang (who played Han Lue in Tokyo Drift) on hand with a pair of modified Toyota AE86s to promote their new move, Drifter. Advertisement - scroll for more content
Other notables were the Giorgio Armani Fiat 500e, all-electric Subaru Uncharted and Trailseeker shown in preproduction trim, the 1,000 hp Chevrolet Corvette CX concept EV, one of the Bluebird electric school buses from this article about the North Aurora school district, the first of the hot-selling new BMW iX3 models I’ve seen, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally — which I can’t get enough of.
The more good
Another thing I can’t get enough of is big, purpose-built EVs like the International MV Electric + Altec cherry picker vocational truck parked in front of Chicago utility ComEd’s booth. ComEd deserves some major kudos here — and not just because their Beneficial Electrification program is putting more than $100 million into commercial EV incentives and charging infrastructure, but because their “Chicago Drives Electric” test drive area fills a huge portion of what’s left of the Chicago Auto Show floor space, providing some genuine thrills and proving just how clean, quick, and quiet EVs can be.
“Since their initial launch, ComEd’s EV rebate initiatives have helped empower consumers in northern Illinois to make cleaner choices and support the transition to zero emission transportation,” said Megha Lakhchaura, State EV Officer of Illinois. “These continued investments to support EV adoption and expanded charging infrastructure are leading the drive towards a more sustainable future for our state.”
The company also sponsored the Blue Bird electric bus display, which was separate from the test drive space in a “Family Zone,” and emphasized the unquestionable health benefits electric buses provide to kids.
“Air pollution poses significant health challenges for residents throughout Illinois and reducing vehicle emissions is one of the most effective steps to improve air quality and public health in Illinois,” said Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health Programs at Respiratory Health Association. “ComEd’s programs allow businesses, customers and communities to help eliminate pollution and create cleaner air for our communities with the addition of each EV and EV charger in our state.”
The bad
As I walked through the show with one of my friends, an ex-Ford engineer administering EV incentives for ComEd, we both remarked, at different points and for different reasons, that a lot of these car companies seemed confused. Their products — even the good ones — were seemingly built without any real customers in mind.
The Giorgio Armani Fiat 500e, for example, was stylistically OK, but the interior trim and touch points (especially the leather) were not up to the GA brand, and was already noticeably worn in the car on display (see bottom left of photo).
Over on the Jeep side of things, the new Recon seemed like a solid enough product, as did the the new Cherokee (shown, above), but it seemed like they’d be competing with each other as much as they’d be competing with Ford or Toyota. The cancellation of Stellantis’ other plug-in vehicles also left big, unanswered questions about even the near-term future of the Recon — questions which the Stellantis brand managers on-hand for the Auto Show’s media day deftly avoided answering when put to them.
The new Honda Prelude hybrid and electric Dodge Charger, meanwhile, are just stupid — both are high-tech, loaded up, expensive examples of nostalgia plays from two very different companies that are equally and totally unaware of what anyone ever liked about the classic cars these nameplates are meant to invoke.
Both Honda and Stellantis can, and should, do better.
The ugly
Tesla at the Chicago Auto Show; image by the author.
The house that Elon built had a relatively large display at the Chicago Auto Show — one that included both a Robotaxi which was being described as “fully operational without drivers in San Francisco, Austin …” and a Cybercab Cybervehicle prototype shown without a steering wheel and breathlessly described as “nearly ready for production — maybe later this year” by someone who may or may not have been associated with Tesla officially, but who was definitely drinking Elon’s corporate Kool-Aid.
The big takeaway for me, however, was that Tesla’s longstanding policy of not spending marketing dollars seems to be well and truly behind us.
And, while Tesla was on-hand, the 2026 Chicago Auto Show was arguably more notable for the brands that weren’t on hand. While you expect brands like Ferrari or Lamborghini or McLaren to skip Chicago, a number of fairly mainstream brands also decided to skip it. That list includes:
Acura
Audi
Bentley
Infiniti
Genesis
Jaguar
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Maserati
Mercedes-Benz
MINI
Porsche
Rivian
Volvo
Electrek’s Take
Look, better writes than me (Jack Baruth) have spent a lot more ink than I’m willing to exploring the decline and fall of America’s auto shows and maybe I’m only hearing what I want to hear, but the comment I heard the most from the clusters of ICE normies I encountered at the show was that they were curious about EVs. Even if they weren’t ready or didn’t trust the infrastructure yet, they wanted to see the new EVs, ask about range, talk about charging — and it’s not like I was wearing an Electrek shirt or badge or anything. This is what they were saying to each other.
If they were smart, the people running the auto shows would embrace EVs, and drag the shows back, kicking and screaming if necessary, to the age when they weren’t about selling cars today, but getting their dirty little brand hooks into the young buyers of tomorrow.
EVs can do that. Auto shows can do that. The real question is: will they?
Original content from Electrek.
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