Like last year, I attended SEMA 2022 for the Friday Experience. This is a great opportunity open to the public. Also like last year, I wanted to see what the industry is embracing going forward with the rapid change to electrification going on at the OEMs.
When I entered the Las Vegas Convention Center, the line was very long. It was at a different place than last year making the comparison a bit harder but it sure seemed like more people this year.
This years SEMA Electrified was much larger than last years. In addition, there were manufacturers of EV components and kits all over the show. Below are some photos of several EV systems and components I found at the show.
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A Porsche 911 specific kit.
There were many other EV conversion suppliers here. There were also many EV conversions on display around the show.
Absent was any hybrid conversion parts or kits. A person could of course use many of the components such and controllers, batteries, chargers, etc., in a hybrid system but what is missing and needed are hybrid motors. In my opinion this is a gap. Of course there are many people interested in full-EV conversion which is a niche market itself but there is another niche for hybrids that is mostly unserved. From what I can tell, Vonnen has this market to itself at the moment. The Vonnen system is not available as a kit and it is priced very high, well out of reach of most.
As I wrote years ago, I believe there is room for aftermarket performance hybridization kits. SEMA would be the place to find this and I saw nothing. However, the expansion of EV components and kits are paving the way for hybrids as well.
Obviously SEMA is a huge show with tons of other performance systems, tools, shop equipment, and other suppliers that offer components and services to shops. There is also a huge display of all kinds of exotics contraptions that take up the whole convention center parking lot.
This is not just a photo angle thing. The bumper was actually the height of my head standing straight up.
I saw several similar to this. A mini monster truck. This one had a supercharged GM LS V8 in it, as I think most did.
Notice the smoke coming from the top right in the photo above. That was a drift area where they were shredding tires all day long.
New Ford Broncos were very popular at the show. Many selling components and kits and others doing major modifications like this one above.
