read everything else we have to say about the frankfurt auto show.
the frankfurt auto show, also known as the internationale automobil-ausstellung (iaa), is europe's largest auto show—we mean physically, as it's spread among multiple halls and each of the german automakers has a building all to itself—and is held every other year. the show plays host to major debuts mostly from the germans—duh—including mercedes-benz, bmw, and the volkswagen group's many brands. we are on the ground, wearing our best walking shoes, and will be bringing you live updates. stay tuned! –joey capparella and tony quiroga for car and driver
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here is one of the 63 lamborghini siáns that will ever be. lamborghini's hybrid looks vaguely like the aventador upon which it's based, but the design is more striking and somehow more angular.
the gold wheels are a cool throwback to the supercars of the '70s and although the design is busy, it pulls off menacing and exotic. power is from lamborghini's 774-hp 6.5-liter v-12 with an electric motor boosting it to 807 horsepower. a supercapacitor feeds the motor and lamborghini uses it to boost acceleration and smooth gearshifts.—tony quiroga
electric cars are puttering around the huge frankfurt messe serving as shuttles, and they’re so silent that they keep sneaking up on me as i walk between the halls. there’s been lots of talk about artificial sounds to make evs more noticeable to pedestrians, but this is the first time i’ve been confronted with the issue in real life. — joey capparella
trippy!
the trippy rotating led headlights of the mercedes-benz eqs vision concept show off the strangest of its many novel lighting elements. rotating headlights.
mercedes says the rotating lens modules, which appear to float, can display holographic images.
the eqs is larger in person than we expected. it is an s-class sedan, which i suppose shouldn’t surprise us since the s part of its name hints at the ev s-class of the near future. —tony quiroga
at last, we see the land rover defender
the new defender is one of the biggest reveals of the show. in person, it’s less toylike and tougher than it looks in photos. it looks especially cool on its 19-inch steel wheels.
while it's a fully modern design, the defender has a few retro cues that link it to the past. in particular, from the rear, the fenders have the shape of the old defender. —tony quiroga
hyundai 45 concept: those wheels
hyundai's 45 concept is a real surprise in person. angular and clean with more than a little lancia delta integrale in it, the car looks both italian and audi-like. it's futuristic, but not so outlandish. one particular piece that caught our eye is the complexity of the wheels. while they're virtually impossible to clean, similar wheels have been spotted on g90 prototypes. —tony quiroga
vw "group night" has technical difficulties, but not with the cars
the volkswagen group conglomerate used its traditional group night to usher in the new id.3 electric car that kicks off a whole family of vw evs. the reveal itself hit a bit of a snag early on, as the large white curtains throughout the hall—meant to come down all at once in dramatic fashion to reveal several different id.3s on multiple levels of the display—did not function as intended. the presenters awkwardly stalled for a bit and then continued on with the presentation, all while noisy cranes were brought out to manually dismantle the curtains, which did, eventually, come down. —joey capparella
