CES 2026 will be my 18th time heading to Las Vegas to cover all of the cars and automotive technology at the world's largest tech show. After all this time, stepping into that convention center still feels like stepping into the future, and this year should be no exception. While the annual Consumer Electronics Show in January is sure to be full of surprises, my years of experience covering the techiest corners of the automotive industry have given me loads of insight into the big show.
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At my first CES, car tech was mostly aftermarket car audio equipment and portable GPS devices. Then in 2011, Ford unveiled its all-electric Ford Focus, kicking off an explosive decade of automotive debuts at CES. More and more automakers brought their biggest high-tech concept cars and new model debuts to the show and dominating North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Post-pandemic, I’ve noticed those traditional automakers largely shifting away from big vehicle debuts and refocusing their CES efforts on detailing the cutting-edge technologies inside and around their cars, like infotainment, autonomous driving and smart infrastructure. This shift has opened up new space (figuratively and literally) at the show for automotive outsiders, startups and mobility newcomers to thrive, and I’ve seen CES trending over the last five years toward exciting innovations in automotive artificial intelligence, EV startups, new robotics and air mobility concepts.
Based on the trends I’m seeing in mobility technology this year and nearly two decades of experience covering the automotive industry, here are my best predictions for what mobility and car tech trends we'll see this year at CES 2026, from flying cars to thinking cars to cars that move in ways we’ve never seen before.
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My auto-tech predictions for CES 2026
More flying car concepts than ever before, with at least one company announcing an actual roadmap to public air taxi flights.
Improved conversational AI inside the car that's able to handle more complex and predictive tasks.
Modest improvements in autonomous driving software and the hardware that powers it.
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