IFA Berlin – this year running from September 4-8 – has traditionally been the place to see the latest TVs, laptops, smartphones, smart-home gadgets and other things you didn’t know you needed. This year, however, there’s something rather more interesting going on.
Cars.
IFA 2026 puts a much bigger emphasis on mobility, with automotive brands and technology companies demonstrating everything from electric cars and connected ecosystems to using an EV as a mobile power supply. IFA’s Mobility area features brands including Volkswagen, Xiaomi and Xpeng alongside electric bikes, scooters and other forms of personal transport.
It means IFA is starting to look a little more like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where mobility has become an increasingly important part of the technology show. And, frankly, we’re here for it.
Perhaps the biggest example comes from Xiaomi, which makes its IFA debut with a huge 3,300 sq m exhibition space and more than 380 products.
The Chinese technology giant is using the show to demonstrate its Human × Car × Home ecosystem, bringing smartphones, smart-home products and cars together under one technological roof.
The automotive stars include the Xiaomi SU7, the high-performance SU7 Ultra and the rather spectacular Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo concept.
The latter is a virtual concept car created for the Gran Turismo gaming franchise, with Xiaomi describing it as an exploration of future automotive design, aerodynamics and intelligent interaction. Its “Shaped by the Wind” design includes an Active Wake Control System, while the cabin gets a “Racing on a Sofa” concept and a ring-shaped Xiaomi Pulse assistant.
But the more interesting part of Xiaomi’s IFA display isn’t necessarily the cars themselves. It’s what happens when the car becomes another device in your connected life.
Xiaomi demonstrates scenarios in which AI uses information such as your location, time and weather to coordinate the car and home. In theory, your house could start adjusting its lighting and air conditioning before you arrive, based on information coming from your journey.
That’s a long way from simply connecting your phone to Bluetooth.
Xiaomi confirmed that its cars are planned to enter European markets, including Germany, in 2027, and has signed memorandums of understanding with eight German automotive dealer groups at IFA as it starts building its European retail and service network.
Volkswagen took a rather more hands-on approach to demonstrating what an electric car can do when you stop thinking of it purely as a means of transportation.
At IFA, the new ID.Polo has been turned into a mobile 3D-printing workshop, with a printer running from the car’s Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) system.
No generator. No mains socket. Just the car’s battery powering the printer from the boot.
One demonstration saw Volkswagen and German social media star BigBangBash produce ID.Polo keyrings for visitors during a live session.
And if that wasn’t enough, the ID.Cross was turned into a rather unconventional concert venue at the weekend, with its V2L system providing power for both the microphone and sound system during an acoustic performance by German singer Gregor Hägele.
In other words, the car was simultaneously the transport, generator and venue.
Volkswagen has already said its presence at IFA is intended to demonstrate how mobility, digitalisation and smart technologies are becoming increasingly intertwined with everyday life. This is a fairly good demonstration of the point.
Not all of the automotive influence at IFA comes from an actual car.
Tecno uses the show to present its new POVA 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition, the first smartphone collaboration between Tecno and Tonino Lamborghini.
And yes, that’s Tonino Lamborghini the Italian lifestyle brand, rather than Lamborghini the car manufacturer – although the two are connected (Tonino is the son of automotive founder Ferruccio).
The phone is dressed accordingly, with a black and red design, metallic detailing and subtle geometric patterns that reveal themselves when the light catches the rear panel. It also gets Tecno’s Alive Matrix LED display, which handles notifications, charging information and other animations.
There’s even a Lamborghini-branded version of the company’s compact gaming PC, the Tecno Taurus (Mega Mini G1 Pro), which subsequently picked up an IFA Global Product Technology Innovation Gold Award.
So, while Lamborghini itself wasn’t rolling a Revuelto onto the IFA stand, the brand’s design language is still there – attached to a phone and a tiny gaming PC.
That’s perhaps the most interesting thing about IFA 2026 – the show isn’t suddenly becoming a motor show. Instead, the car is becoming part of the technology ecosystem that already surrounds us.
Xiaomi is connecting the car to your phone and home, Volkswagen is showing that an EV can power your equipment, and Tecno is borrowing Italian automotive design cues for consumer electronics. Meanwhile, IFA’s Mobility area is filling up with e-bikes, e-scooters and other connected forms of transport.
So the next big thing in automotive technology might not be another screen, another app or another clever driver-assistance feature – it might simply be making the car useful when you’re not actually driving it.
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