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Kia EV6, electric with near 300-mile range. Photo by John Gilbert.

One of the highlights of the Chicago Auto Show, which runs through Monday, Feb. 21, at McCormick Place, the enormous facility in downtown Chicago, is the little driving course set up to allow visitors to take a short, serpentine course in one of various pure-electric vehicles on display at the show.
My favorite display of all-electric cars, which dominated the South Exhibition Hall was the Kia EV6, which showed off all angles of the futuristic-looking vehicle and had a display showing the basic chassis, complete with its full-width battery pack that filled the whole lower area of the floorpan between the axles.

Hyundai, Kia’s South Korean partner, has ample Ioniq5 models to show off, with the same drivetrain.
Nearly every manufacturer has their latest electric vehicle on display, including the new BMW iXM60, the electric version of the company’s flagship.
My favorites for the test run included the Ioniq5 and the BMW, and while the run takes less than a minute or two, and is restricted to very low speed, it does offer an example of what driving an electric car will be like, for those who haven’t had the experience yet.
The best news, of course, is the Chicago Auto Show itself, which provides a relief to those of us who realized there was a realistic threat that we were facing the demise of the world’s auto shows when the COVID-19 pandemic hit us, because all the major auto shows in the world were postponed or cancelled for the past two years. But now it is 2022, and hope returns in the Midwest, in the form of the Chicago Auto Show, the oldest, and largest-attended show in the U.S.

The show kicked off with media preview days on Feb. 10-11, leading into the show. One of the luxuries of attending the Chicago show is that you can get a room at the McCormick Place Hyatt, which means you can walk from your room to the arena itself without going outside into what is predictably a cold, harsh and windy experience.

There were a number of highlights, although we will have to call it “Chicago Auto Show Light,” because a number of prominent companies – Mercedes, Audi, Honda, Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac, Genesis, Porsche, and Tesla, for example – were nowhere to be seen. Those who did put up displays were very limited in the presentations they offered.

Curiously, several companies generously gave out the very neat little carrying bags into which you can stash the press brochures and information you acquire on your rounds of the place, but Hyundai was the only one that offered an actual brochure to show off its many impressive new models.
Here is a brief rundown of the new cars on display:
The new Corvette Z06 – the first Corvette with an engine lacking pushrods! It has a high-tech dual-overhead-cam 5.5-liter V8 with 870 horsepower in the mid-engine machine. It is right next to Ford’s display of its original GT40 LeMans race car on a stand next to the new, and reportedly final, new Ford GT that looks like the old one grown up, with its mid-engine powertrain.

Other eye-catchers are the Lexus expanded versions of its flashy LC500 coupe and convertible. But after that, and the assorted Volkswagen Golf R and Arteon, plus its new compact SUV fleet that includes the Taos, the Hyundai display and the Kia display had a full variety of cars.
Everybody else seemed focused on trucks. Ram held a presentation for its special-service debut of the fire department first-responder red pickup; Chevy showed off its new Silverado, which now includes a new electric version; Toyota displayed its new Tundra and Tacoma, and large SUV 2023 Sequoia and had a meaningful presentation; GMC had a display mounted by a white Hummer EV, with a bed in back; Jeep showed off a variety of Grand Cherokees and the new Grand Wagoneer; Hyundai had its new Santa Cruz and Tucson; sKia its new Sportage’ and Ford, as usual, took the truck lead. Along with its array of F-150s, Ford showed its hybrid and its electric Lightning, and its hard-to-get Maverick with hybrid power. Its feature though was the difficult to get Bronco Sport in Raptor trim – bright orange, on a pretend rocky peak with its doors removed, presumably ready to take on Jeep’s best.

Along with the widened and toughened Raptor Bronco Sport, Ford unveiled the new Bronco Everglade – a well-trimmed model with a winch in front, and the ability to drive through water 34.6 inches deep, probably in pursuit of alligators. Kia also presented a display with the new EV9, but that overlaps into our electric category.

The rush toward EV (electric vehicles) may not have taken over yet, but the momentum is building, and virtually every week you can hear about new high-speed charging locations as they spread across the country.
BMW, for example, is offering free charging for the first two years you own your BMW EV. We know Mercedes and Audi have a lot going on in EVs, so they were spotting BMW a stronghold by not appearing.
For pure EVs, the list shows: Volkswagen’s iD.4 and Golf e; Mustang had a couple Mustang Mach e models; there was the Chevy Bolt, and the aforementioned Hyundai Ioniq5 plus a Kona EV; Kia showed the EV6 and the Niro amid several hybrid and plug-in hybrid models; Nissan displayed its new Ariya EV, Toyota had a Rhombus concept vehicle and its new bZ4X sporty car, and Subaru had a very impressive display featuring newly enlarged models and a new Solterra EV.

We’ll get to test most if not all of them in upcoming weeks and months.