Detroit auto show wraps up with long lines for EV rides

Detroit — The Detroit auto show drew a crowd on its final day Sunday despite the Lions playing football a few blocks away and some members of the striking United Auto Workers asking people to skip the event.

Long lines were seen as auto show attendees waited to ride along with skilled drivers on a football field-like electric vehicle track, the Powering Michigan EV Experience.

BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Tesla and Volkswagen had cars on the track that chauffeured families and friends who snapped videos and photos while being driven by professionals.

John Frank of Cleveland and his son Alex Frank watched the electric vehicles take course and noticed that the auto show was smaller than in previous years.

The Franks said they have been to the car show nearly 10 times, the last time being before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was kind of fun. It was kind of cool, but this is OK. It's not as elaborate as it used to be a long time ago," said John Frank, 72. "I don't know why they cut it back ... they're missing a couple cars: Mazda, Acura."

His son chimed in: "The one year we came ... they had a Cirque du Soleil-style thing with people doing acrobatics," Alex Frank, 38, said.

Final attendance figures were not available Sunday.

“We are in the last day of what has been an amazing 12-day show and we’ve received a really strong and positive response from the industry and attendees," said Rod Alberts, the auto show's executive director.

Outside of Huntington Place, Ford and Tesla offered street course ride-and-drives. And like visitors to an auto amusement park, show attendees had the choice of four indoor rides — plus a test track for kids to ride in toy Jeeps.

Stellantis had a 90,000-square-foot display dominated by (actual) Jeep and Ram activations where attendees could ride along as Ram showed off its tow muscle and Wranglers scaled a hill for a bird’s-eye view of the show floor.

Krishna Murty of Rochester Hills and his friend rode through the Ram 1500 exhibit, which had various ramps, one made of wooden logs.

"We just wanted to enjoy this. It's about the experience. It's new for me so everything is good," Murty, 36, said. The GMC Hummer, Lincoln Navigator and the Ram 1500 he rode in, were his top head turners.

Some Detroit-made vehicles seen at the show were the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV, the newest Jeep Wrangler and the first Sierra Denali EV made at Factory Zero.

Ford’s display featured Bronco Mountain rides and showcased the redesigned F-150, fresh from its Hart Plaza reveal; a matte-wrapped, limited-production Lightning Platinum EV truck and Ranger Raptor pickup first-look.

Visitors also got a first look at the 800-horsepower Mustang GTD supercar, which anchors a Mustang display featuring every member of the seventh-generation pony car's family, including Mustang Mach-E Rally, Mustang Dark Horse, and GT3 and GT4 race cars.

Beyond the Detroit Three brands, vehicles on display included models from Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus and Volkswagen. Toyota had a display front and center in the Exhibit Hall with 30 vehicles, including its bZ4X EV, hybrid Prius, and gas-engine models like the new Tacoma pickup and GR Corolla hellion.

Another car that was roped off and only available for looking was a gray Lucid Grand Touring. Richmond Flint of Detroit, a former mechanical engineer, was "geeking out" at the vehicle's lights and how well the Lucid is built.

He said he's been to the auto show about a dozen times and although it's more interactive, he did not like that there were some cars, like the Lucid Grand Touring, that attendees were not allowed to touch.

"GM's EVs are kind of walled off. I wanted to get in and see how they felt inside: the Equinox, Silverado, Blazer," Flint said. His top looks were the Wrangler and Rubicon and said he would have liked to see a larger selection of European cars.

For supercar enthusiasts, a new addition this year was the "Exotic and Luxury Showcase" that gives a futuristic look at a flying car from California-based Alef Aeronautics.

The exhibit which took up over 600,000 square feet of Huntington Place, boasts the most brands of any show, at 35, and also had a Jeep test track for kids as well as a mountain climbing wall for attendees.