SEMA 2021

 

The SEMA Show

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) offered a new Friday Experience where they sold a limited number of tickets to the public to attend SEMA Friday.  I bought one of those tickets and attended.  I have wanted to attend SEMA ever since I first heard about it from Hot Rod magazine writeups back in the 1970's.  This years event was the largest convention in Las Vegas for 2021.  I have been to MINExpo in 2021, and CONEXPO in 2020, both at the Las Vegas Convention Center as well and SEMA is a bigger show using all of the convention center halls as well as most of the parking lots.  My Garmin watch reported over 19,000 steps and almost 11 miles of walking for the day.  It's nice the LVCC Loop helps get you between some of it without as much walking. I did not get to most of the stuff in the parking lots which took up all of the Central Hall lots, and likely more. It is a huge show to cover in one day.  

SEMA is about more than just aftermarket vehicles and equipment.  It also focuses on shops that service or modify vehicles.  SEMA has many vendors of tools, shop equipment, training, software, and pretty much everything a shop would need to service or modify vehicles.  

SEMA had an area they called SEMA Electrified.  This area showcased mostly BEV performance.  

At the end of the show they have an event called SEMA Ignite where a parade of vehicles from the show drive through the parking lot of the West Hall past a bunch of bleachers.  They have live music and beer too.  They block off Convention Center Drive from the LVCC Central Hall to the parking lot of the West Hall where SEMA Ignite is.  They also block off Paradise Road for a block in each direction.  This made it a challenge to get an Uber home.    

Cat had some products there, in 2 different areas.

There were of course plenty of press there so you can find many great photos, articles, and videos online from SEMA.  The pro's obviously have far better equipment and skill than me with my 2.5 year old smartphone.  Below are some videos I captured.

Here is a playlist of 360-degree videos I took. 

Aftermarket Performance Future

Another thing that attracted me to SEMA was to see where industry was with electrification.  I wrote this article earlier about what I see as a likely path for future aftermarket performance.  While full battery electric (BEV) conversions are happening, I have only found Vonnen doing hybrid conversions so far.  There are retailers selling Tesla motors and systems.  GM and Ford have both advertised "crate" electric motors. Ford did show off their Eluminator truck built on their e-crate motor that does have a part number and the article claims you can order it now. 

There were other companies offering BEV components at SEMA such as Blacmotor and Torque Trends. 

I can see a real future for full BEV conversions, but I also see a market for hybrids conversions which appears pretty much unserved except for Vonnen.

Many look at the trends and see the bigger leap direct to BEV in all cases.  I see it a bit differently.  I agree there is a market for BEV conversions and they are compelling in many ways but I also see a market for enhancements to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.  This market is larger than some think in my opinion.  There is something about hearing the sound of an engine that really matters to some.  I am one of those it matters to.  Maybe that desire runs stronger in older folks. I wrote an article about this earlier in this blog.  For those people (which includes me), hybrid really makes sense.  The use case for performance hybrid is very different than hybrid focused on fuel economy, as all the mainstream hybrids are.  Hybrid has been in racing for years now.  Look at F1 KERS for instance, or recent LeMans race cars.  Hybrid powertains are everywhere.  Sports cars often look to racing to adopt those approaches to enhance the performance of street/track sports cars.  Supercars are already well down this path too.  Some of the first were the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and the McLaren P1 which came out years ago.  Many more have followed.

The other issue to consider is the increasing focus and regulation around emissions. The California Bureau of Auto Repair (BAR) has increased focus on going after modified vehicles.  The days of modifying flash files and tunes are nearing an end. Other aftermarket equipment that negatively impacts emissions will face increased scrutiny and eventual ban going forward as well.  Hybrid retrofits do not suffer these risks since they will result in neutral or decreased emissions, and they do not negatively impact emissions control or OBD. 

The performance benefits of electric and hybrid are clear.  Electric motors give a very different powerband than ICE engines.  Their performance peaks in the RPM range are opposites. Combining the 2 together give a much flatter performance curve and really fill in the low end power gaps that ICE engines have, particularly naturally aspirated ICE engines.  Adding hybrid has no effect on the engine sound, other than to allow it to rev even quicker.  The driver experience is enhanced with no downside.  

Some may look at the hybrid retrofit and claim the extra weight will be a bug downside.  That would be true if the net weight gain was significant, or worse, poorly placed in the vehicle.  They would also look at BEV and plug-in hybrids and claim those batteries are heavy and expensive, which is true.  However, the battery capacity needed for performance enhancement is much smaller than what you need for BEV and plug-in hybrid where you are trying to save fuel.  Vonnen's system uses a 1kWh battery.  Most BEVs require more like 80kWh or larger.  Vonnen's system also adds a total of 170lbs but places is lower in the chassis.  The only real downside of Vonnen's system I can see if the cost.  I believe as BEV and hybrids go more mainstream, we will see these costs go down.  I really like what Vonnen has done here and I think they are only the first of many to come.  

I believe that hybrid and electric offer many benefits over an ICE powertain.  Those include:

• The energy storage (batteries, ultra-caps) can be more strategically placed around the vehicle in more optimum places for the weight.  You can also have multiple smaller battery packs to optimize weight location.
• Energy storage can use a combination of batteries and ultra-capacitors based on optimizing for the use cases of the vehicle. Other future energy storage devices can also be used.
• Multiple motor/generators can be used.  This allows for better active torque vectoring without the use of the brakes.
• Electric motor/generators are not only used for propulsion, but also play a part in braking. I like track days and brakes take a real beating on track days.  Absorbing some of that braking energy with the electric system can be a real advantage.
• Multiple motor/generators can be placed to drive each wheel independently.  This will allow for torque vectoring to optimize deceleration in and acceleration out of corners on the track.  It is also a better way to manage traction control overall.
• Electric motor/generator control is very fast.  There is very little time lag between a command and the actual torque application.  This response is far better than any ICE powertrain and give a new level of control.
• When using multiple motor/generators, a single failure will not leave the vehicle incapacitated.  It is like having multiple engines on a airplane.  You can limp home even if one or more fail as long as you have enough for the job.
• You can enhance a hybrid system to also drive an electric supercharger.  When used with a Roots or screw supercharger, a motor/generator driving the supercharger can be used in place of the traditional throttle.  This can recover some otherwise wasted energy from the Otto-cycle engines during light loads.  You can also create custom tuned boost curves to optimize for the ICE engine.   
• You can dispense with all the ICE belt driven accessories like alternator, HVAC, and power steering.  Even the water pump can go electric drive.  This can also eliminate most or all of the related hoses from those systems.  The HVAC can be all hard lines instead of hoses since the compressor can now be body mounted.  Electric assist power steering already exists.  Eliminating all this belt driven stuff lets the engine rev quicker too.
• Engine attached motor/generators like the Vonnen system allows for the removal of the alternator and starter.  No longer do you have that noisy starter to start the engine.  This can also be used for anti-stall and stall recovery where the motor/generator are used to maintain idle speed even if the engine dies.
• In the case of highly modified engines, the engine attached motor/generator can by used to stabilize the idle.  The Aston Martin Valkyrie is a great example of this where the hybrid system is used to make the car more drivable. 
• It is possible, especially in off-road vehicles, to recover energy from the suspension using electro-magnetic suspension dampers (shocks).  These can be used to actively control vehicle ride.  Electro-magnetic suspension control can be used to eliminate the sway bars and instead have the ride height actively controlled.  This will allow the off-road vehicle to rock climb and keep all the wheels in contact with the ground while also preventing body roll at high speeds.  Body roll can be actively eliminated completely improving performance of all vehicles.  In fact, negative body roll can be implemented.  Since some of the energy is being recovered rather than generating waste heat, the devices would not have as much of a heat problem as shocks do in off-road racing.  Their performance can be temperature compensated too, whereas tradition shocks change performance when hot versus cold. 
• Optionally, auto start/stop could be implemented for street cars.  When combined with moving the belt driven accessories to electric drive, you can sit in comfort with the HVAC ON and engine off for some time.  This would be great for a daily driver in town.  Like many hybrids today, the motors can both start the engine and start the vehicle moving at the same time giving good response to accelerate from a stop (unlike non-hybrid start/stop systems).  
• The ICE can be electrically warmed up.  ICE engine wear is much higher on a cold engine.  The less cold operation the better.  Using the hybrid generator to drive an electric engine heater will both worm the engine faster, and heat the coolant faster.  
• An electric heater can be used for cab heat and windshield defrosting until the engine warms up. This is safer as well as more comfortable.
• Trailers can also be equipped with motor/generators.  This can allow for all the wheels to be driven in poor traction conditions so you don't get stuck.  It also allows for regenerative braking.  The trailer can have its own battery, or connect into the vehicles electrical system.
• Electric winches can be smaller and much more powerful using the high-voltage electrical system.  
• Electric PTO accessories can by used to drive various things that tradition PTO systems did.
• The list goes on and on.

The main point is to not think of electric drive as a replacement for a traditional powertrain but rather a whole new way of managing energy and power.  Think of solving the various use case challenges from scratch, rather than just evolving from traditional approaches.  

I would really like a BEV for my daily driver but I want a hybrid for my sports car.  BEV just makes so much more sense for a daily driver as I discussed in this blog post.  Longer term I do hope the ICE can live on in a carbon free fuel form using future fuels.  It will be a niche though as BEV really makes the most sense for the vast majority of people in most use cases. Getting the vast majority of people out of ICE vehicles will leave the remaining niche with little overall emissions impact even if we keep using petroleum to power them.

I am an optimist and I do believe the future of performance vehicles and vehicle customization is bright, even in the face of BEV and autonomous revolution.  I still remember the 1970's, the dark ages of the automobile in many way.  Many predicted the end of high-performance vehicles completely.  They said performance is just not possible with all the new emissions regulations.  I have to laugh at that now as todays performance cars are far better then the old muscle cars prior to the 1970's when it comes to performance.  Things got far better, not worse during the 1980's once the OEMs changed their mindset.  Aftermarket performance will of course remain a niche market, not the mainstream.  But that is really the point anyway.  SEMA is a fantastic display of this niche market, and just how big it really is.  Most of the folks in this business are passionate about performance first, and running a profitable business comes after that.  

The future of aftermarket performance

I have been modifying cars since I was a teenager.  My first was a 1972 Ford Bronco where I rebuilt a 351W engine, upgrading the camshaft, installing a larger carburetor, and headers, to replace the 302.  I installed nitrous oxide on my 1968 Mustang, along with many other mods.  I helped a friend develop a custom turbo system for his Fox mustang.  I installed many superchargers at the Ford Dealer I worked at for 15 years.  I also was a dealer/installer for Allen Engine Development and Explorer Express superchargers.  I developed a low budget custom turbo system for my BMW 318i.  I have also done engine performance tuning on many cars.  I have worked with most types performance enhancements over the years.  I know the pros and cons of the various aftermarket power adders.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the future is in aftermarket hybrid systems.  I am not talking about plug-in hybrid focused at fuel economy here.  I am talking about performance focused hybrid performance enhancements.  Think F1 KERS for the street or track.  This is by no means a new concept.  Think back to the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1.  All three were hybrids.  In the supercar space, more hybrids are coming too.  There is even a company, Vonnen, that has developed the first aftermarket hybrid system for Porsche sports cars now.  While that system has a huge price tag, I expect this approach to eventually go mainstream and the prices to come down quickly.

There are many opportunities once you have a high-voltage electric system in the car.  The Vonnen system eliminates the old heavy starter motor, and replaces the heavy lead-acid 12V battery to reduce the weight penalty down to about 100lbs.  While the Vonnen system puts the motor/generator between the engine and transmission, the motor/generator could instead (or also) be placed at each of the axles which would allow for torque vectoring.  You can also electric drive superchargers to boost the engine performance as well with no back work of traditional supercharging or turbocharging (more net power with less boost).  Unlike superchargers or turbochargers, hybrid drive will not affect the engine durability, tuning, emissions, or sound either.  Performance focused hybrid systems do not require a large heavy battery pack.  Instead, the Vonnen system uses a 1kWh battery pack (versus the 100kWh battery pack of a Tesla Model S 100). Ultra-capacitors can also be used to augment these performance oriented hybrid systems with a low weight penalty and very high power rates in and out.  The battery and/or capacitor weight can be strategically placed in the vehicle too, optimizing balance and handling. Other features can be added such as silent drive for short distances (depending on battery capacity) so you don't wake everyone up in your neighborhood when you start your performance car.  Large capacity electric heaters can augment the HVAC in cold climates to give instant heat before the engine warms up, also making the defrost work better.  Speaking of HVAC, the belt driven AC compressor can be replaced with an electric compressor and be more strategically placed in the vehicle. Hydraulic power steering can be replace with efficient electric power steering, which can include advanced features such as Porsche's advanced electric power steering.

Motors are getting better all the time too.  Equipmake for instance, recently developed a 295HP motor that weights only 22lbs. With all kinds of advanced motor technology, higher voltages, and advanced manufacturing techniques, motors will continue to become lighter, more powerful, and once they show up in volumes, less costly.  Leveraging this development from mainstream manufacturers, the aftermarket can adapt these motors to the aftermarket performance sector to make a cost effective performance enhancement system. Most of these modern motors can also generate electricity to charge the propulsion batteries and/or capacitors.

Motors can be placed in many different areas to provide power where desired and to enable enhanced stability and traction control strategies such as torque vectoring, stop/start, anti-stall, and more.  A motor that drives the engine crank can also be used to stabilize very high performance engines with large aggressive cams to make the car more drive-able.  A great example of that is the Aston Martin Valkyrie.  Hybrid assist is used to make this 1000HP naturally aspirated engine street drive-able.  Motors that are connected to the engine can also assist in changing engine speeds, making the engine rev much quicker.  Motors used in generating mode can be used as retarders for descending hills and decelerating, saving brake heat and wear.

Looking at trucks and off-road vehicles the advantages grow even more.  Drive motors can be placed to drive each wheel independently (or assist) to allow precise torque control for rock climbing and advanced traction control.  High-voltage electric winches will be far more compact, light, and powerful than their 12V counterparts. Trailers can also be equipped with drive motors so an off-road vehicle can tow a trailer and still have all wheels driven to get through very poor traction conditions.

One of the challenges facing aftermarket performance systems and kits is dealing with the implications to emissions and associated regulations.  Hybrid systems would be far easier to deal with here as most would not impact emissions, or would favorably impact emissions, especially in grams/mile impact.  The Vonnen system for instance does not change any engine or powertrain tuning. 

Hybrid and battery electric vehicles have now been around in volumes for over a decade.  More vehicles will go hybrid and full battery electric going forward.  As hybrid and electric drive go mainstream, the cost of this technology will drop substantially.  In some cases, the factory components could be incorporated into aftermarket hybrid systems which will really help reduce cost while also using proven, validated components.  Hybrid drive is not the doom of performance cars but rather the next level.  The future of performance vehicles and aftermarket performance enhancements has never been brighter.