Home Care In El Segundo, CA

Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury arm, has opened a new state-of-the-art Design Studio in California. An 80,000-square-foot (7432 sq.m) creative hub in El Segundo, Los Angeles, this new space will also play a major role in how the future models from the South Korean automaker will look. If you’ve been watching Genesis evolve over the past decade from an offshoot luxury badge to a full-fledged global tour de force, this marks a pivotal moment for the brand.

In ten years, the brand has gone from concept sketches to cars like the flagship G90 sedan and the full-size GV80 SUV, several stunning concepts, and an incoming endurance racecar in the hyperclass, widely applauded for design that fuses Korean minimalism with a global appeal. Now, this studio brings that mission stateside.

Inside, the facility houses 45 designers, modelers, and digital artists working across production cars, future mobility concepts, and even projects in air mobility and robotics. Together with its studios in Seoul and Frankfurt, the new location completes a 24-hour global workflow where creativity never stops.

The building itself reflects Genesis’ philosophy. Calming and wide open spaces lined with soft acoustic felt, outdoor areas inspired by Korean gardens, and a modern tea platform nodding to the brand’s heritage. There’s a clay modeling and 3D printing lab, a CMF studio for color and materials, and open collaboration zones that make creativity a constant process.

“At Genesis, design is brand and brand is design. Genesis Design California is the embodiment of this. It embraces our distinctly Korean identity, creating a space that inspires creativity. I cannot wait to see that inspiration come to life in the team’s work.” – Luc Donckerwolke (formerly at Lamborghini), Chief Creative Officer of Genesis.

With the El Segundo studio now active, Genesis is positioned to shape its next generation of cars with sharper focus, stronger identity, and the best design talent California has to offer. For Genesis, this investment is about its long-term future and commitment to North America. However, California was a deliberate choice because the region is one of the few global epicenters for automotive creativity.

Major automakers like GM, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Acura, Mazda, Toyota, and several others have long-established presence, with their own design centers, all to stay close to innovation and cultural trends that begin in Southern California before influencing the rest of the world.

Also, just up the road from El Segundo is Pasadena, where you have the Art Center College of Design, a world-renowned institution that has produced some of the most influential automotive designers for decades. For Genesis, it also means access to top talent, collaboration opportunities, and a steady flow of fresh ideas from the next generation of designers.

Images: Genesis

The El Segundo Cars Under The Stars Meet Up is cruising back for 2025!

Happening every month on the first Friday, this recurring car event runs from October 3rd, 2025 through December 4th, 2026. It’s become a staple Friday night tradition in the South Bay, drawing car lovers from all over Los Angeles to gather under the lights in El Segundo.

Hosted by Crazy Joe Lifestyle, the meet welcomes every kind of car, from classics and hot rods to custom builds, exotics, and modern rides. No matter what you roll in with, there’s always space to show it off and plenty of enthusiasts ready to talk shop. Each month brings a new mix of machines, making it one of those events where no two nights ever look the same.

The relaxed setting outside Starbucks in El Segundo creates a welcoming spot for gearheads, families, and friends to connect. Between the glow of headlights, the hum of engines, and the buzz of conversations, it’s an evening that captures everything people love about SoCal car culture.

More than just a meet up, it’s a chance to build community, a monthly tradition that blends cars, conversation, and camaraderie. Whether you’re a regular or a first-timer, you’ll find yourself right at home among fellow enthusiasts.

So mark your calendar for the first Friday of each month, bring your ride and your crew, and experience El Segundo Cars Under The Stars for yourself. It’s a full year-plus of chrome, culture, and cool nights you won’t want to miss.

El Segundo Cars Under The Stars Meet Up - Los Angeles County, California

Date: First Friday MonthlyLocation: Starbucks, 2120 E El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245Starts: 5:00 PMEnds: 10:00 PMAdmission: FreeVehicle Registration: HERE

*Please note: iDriveSoCal is not hosting this car show. To learn more contact El Segundo Cars Under The Stars Meet Up event organizers HERE . Including details about attending and displaying your car. Also about becoming a car meet vendor or sponsor.

Additionally, for more of the best Southern California automotive events click HERE .

And, ever wonder how cars and coffee events got started? Check out this podcast on !

Have a car show, automotive event or car meet you think we should post? Submit .

Never miss another cool SoCal Car Show! Sign up for our newsletter .

Upcoming Dates

On the evening of October 2, a massive fire broke out at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery just southwest of Los Angeles. The blaze was visible across the South Bay and drew a large emergency response, but it was ultimately contained without injuries. While the fire was limited to a single process unit, the facility’s importance to California’s fuel supply means the incident could ripple through regional gasoline markets almost immediately, exacerbating an already challenging situation.

Built in 1911, the El Segundo refinery is Chevron’s largest on the West Coast, with a processing capacity of about 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day. (Contrary to multiple news reports, the facility does not produce oil–it processes oil). The facility plays an outsized role in California’s fuel economy, supplying roughly 20% of Southern California’s gasoline and more than 40% of its jet fuel. Any disruption there carries implications far beyond Los Angeles County. Even a short-term outage can tip the balance in a state where fuel supplies are tightly constrained.

California’s gasoline market is unique in several respects that magnify the impact of such accidents. The state is effectively an island when it comes to refined products, with only limited pipeline connections to the broader U.S. refining system. On top of that, California requires its own specialized blend of gasoline to meet stringent environmental standards. CARB-compliant fuel cannot be easily substituted with supply from other states, and imports from Asia or the Gulf Coast typically require weeks to arrive. This leaves the state unusually exposed when local refineries experience disruptions.

The timing of this fire could hardly be worse for consumers. Inventories of gasoline in California were already running about 10% below their five-year average in late September, according to federal data. Seasonal maintenance at refineries is also underway, which typically reduces output heading into the fall. Add in steady demand from motorists and elevated jet fuel consumption at Los Angeles International Airport, and the system has very little cushion. Even if Chevron brings the damaged unit back online quickly, the short-term effect is likely to be tighter supply and higher prices.

Market watchers expect the most immediate impact in wholesale prices. Spot gasoline prices in Los Angeles and San Francisco are likely to spike, with retail prices potentially climbing 10 to 25 cents per gallon in the short term. If the outage drags on, refiners may need to import additional supply from Asia or the Gulf Coast, but those barrels would not land for several weeks. In the meantime, competing refiners such as Valero and PBF Energy could see margins widen as price spreads favor available local supply.

For California policymakers, refinery incidents like this highlight the state’s ongoing vulnerability to fuel price volatility. Emergency reserves are limited and calls to temporarily relax fuel specifications may resurface if the disruption persists. But such measures only offer modest relief, and they underscore a larger challenge: California’s dependence on a handful of refineries to keep its 30 million drivers on the road.

While the El Segundo fire fortunately caused no injuries, its market consequences are harder to contain. California consumers already pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation, and this accident could push costs even higher as the state heads into the holiday travel season. The incident serves as a reminder that in an isolated market with strict fuel standards and little spare capacity, even one facility’s troubles can ripple across the state’s economy in a matter of days.

By Robert Rapier

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Witnesses reported hearing a blast, then seeing a wall of flames that could be seen from several miles away.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — A nine-plus hour fire at the Chevron El Segundo Refinery has left motorists anticipating higher prices with the facility closed for cleanup and repairs while nearby were largely moving on after being rattled in the hours after an explosion sparked the flames, observers said Saturday.

No injuries were reported.

The refinery processes about 300,000 barrels of crude oil a day, including one fifth of all motor vehicle fuel and 40% of jet fuel in Southern California, Matt McClain, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, an app that tracks gas prices nationwide., told reporters.

"This is going to probably have a pretty significant impact at the pump." McClain said. "It's all going to depend upon a lot of motorists. If everybody kind of goes toward the pumps all at once, well then you've got a little bit of an increase in price coming sooner rather than later. But if nobody panics, you're still only talking a matter of several days before you will start to see the price increase across portions of California, and really beyond."

He estimated prices could increase 35 to 95 cents per gallon.

"This particular refinery, anytime it shuts down, it impacts prices all along the western coast of the United States, and even into places like Vancouver, British Columbia, other aspects in Canada," McClain told ABC7.

Meanwhile, El Segundo area residents had mostly returned to their daily routines after the massive explosion and fire rocked the neighborhood Thursday and lit up the nighttime sky, but many remained concerned about toxins and air quality, according to media reports.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District said pollution levels were elevated near the refinery overnight, but had settled by Friday morning.

The fire was reported just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Witnesses reported hearing a blast, then seeing a wall of flames that could be seen from several miles away.

The last of the visible flames were extinguished about 7:15 a.m. Friday, according to Fox 11 helicopter coverage.

No evacuation orders were issued. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the nearby Manhattan Beach's Tree Section Neighborhood due to the fire and was lifted after 2 a.m. Friday.

"The fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, two sources told the Reuters news agency. "The reformer and the fluid catalytic cracker were shut, losing more than 100,000-barrels per day gasoline output, a trader said, citing Wood Mackenzie."

The refinery is the "largest producing oil refinery on the West Coast, processing more than 276,000 barrels of crude per day," according to the plant's website.

According to Reuters, the refinery is California's second-largest, and Chevron's second-largest in the U.S., supplying a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel used in the isolated southern California market.

California's largest refinery is Marathon Oil Corp.'s Los Angeles Refinery in nearby Carson.

"The incident took place at a processing unit located near the southeast corner of the facility," Ross Allen, adviser at Chevron, USA Corporate Affairs, said in an emailed statement. "Following Chevron's active response along with support from the cities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach emergency services, the fire is now out. As a result, Chevron has launched an internal investigation to determine the cause.

"Throughout the night, Chevron's emergency response team has been actively managing the situation with a primary focus on ensuring the safety of employees, responders and the community. All personnel and contractors have been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported. As a precautionary measure, Chevron's Health Safety and Environmental team has been conducting mobile air monitoring in the community."

Allen said the company "is actively working with local, state and federal agencies, including CalOSHA, CALOSPR and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, who were notified and are monitoring the incident."

Chevron is also providing information updates to The California Energy Commission is also being updated, he said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, whose district includes El Segundo and who also serves on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, issued a statement Friday afternoon saying the fire was "fully extinguished.

"Throughout this incident, I have been in contact with El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel, who has briefed me and has also been in communication with Chevron to ensure that the fire was contained," she said. "I have also connected with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) on the status of air quality, and it has reported that there were some elevated levels of volatile organic compounds at both refinery fence line and community monitors. As of 9:30 (Friday) morning, the levels at these monitors are currently at safe threshold levels. AQMD will continue to monitor the air quality and as the situation is evolving."

Nonetheless, AQMD was advising residents to remain indoors if they see or smell smoke and keep their doors and windows closed. It was also suggested that residents run a HEPA air purifier if available.

Gov. Gavin Newsom "has been briefed on the incident," according to a statement from his office, which "is coordinating in real time with local and state agencies to protect the surrounding community and ensure public safety."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on social media that she was briefed on the fire and spoke with Mitchell.

The Los Angeles Fire Department "stands at the ready to assist with any mutual aid request," Bass wrote, adding "there is no known impact to" nearby Los Angeles International Airport.

Information on how residents can monitor local air quality is available at aqmd.gov/home/rules-compliance/compliance/r1118/community-notifications.

— City News Service

After a massive fire erupted Thursday night at a Chevron refinery in Southern California, experts say gas prices in the state could increase soon by 10 to 20 cents per gallon.

The fire broke out at 9:30 p.m. at the Chevron El Segundo Refinery, which processes approximately 16% of the state’s gasoline, or 269,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Emergency crews from El Segundo and Manhattan Beach worked overnight to extinguish the fire, which was extinguished as of Friday, Chevron said in a news release.

Matt McClain, a petroleum analyst at Gas Buddy, told SFGATE that California will likely see a gas price spike due to the blaze, but it won’t be as bad as experts predicted before the fire was out.

“There’s really no way to pull that amount of fuel offline and there’d be zero impact,” McClain said. “… Looking at this particular point, it’ll create a little bit of a ripple effect but nothing as big as originally feared.”

The potential for the price hike comes because there’s less gasoline supply for California drivers while the El Segundo refinery is offline. A similar instance happened earlier this year, when a chaotic explosion and fire at the Martinez Refining Company sent the refinery offline and caused major supply issues.

“That means that the burden is then spread out amongst fewer refineries to provide fuel for the general population on so many levels,” McClain said.

It’s unclear when the prices could start to increase, McClain said, because it depends on the refinery’s damage and how long it will take to repair. Once that information is available, he said, the exact timeline of the price hike will be clearer.

Chevron did not respond to SFGATE’s questions about the refinery damage or when the refinery is expected to go online.

As of Friday afternoon, California’s gas prices were above the national average at $4.64 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. The price, however, is nearly the same as the average prices from last week, last month and even the same time last year.

In San Francisco, gas is an average of $4.72 per gallon, and in Los Angeles County, where the fire erupted, the average is also $4.72 per gallon. The highest average price in the state is $5.88 in Mono County.

The good news is that gas prices are expected to stay steady over the next few days, McClain said, because a majority of the state’s gasoline is already coming from other sources.

“For today, no impact. There’s plenty of fuel in the pipeline so to speak, in the big tanks and whatnot that people can draw from,” he said. “As we go forward a few days, you may find it into a different issue, but right now, we’re OK.”

McClain recommended that drivers stay calm and avoid rushing to fill up because that could also create an unwanted gasoline shortage.

“If everybody panics and tries to fill up and top off the tank, and they do so today, tomorrow you may become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “You don’t want the extra hiccup all of a sudden, a huge surge in fuel demand because that can create a bit of a hiccup in the supply issue when there’s already a hiccup being the refinery fire.”

When prices eventually do spike, though, it’s important to shop around because the times different gas stations receive shipments may vary.

“You’re not going to see an across-the-board increase traditionally,” McClain said. “You’ll see a sporadic increase as the stations get new shipments of gasoline at a higher price point.”

Sign up for daily SFGATE breaking news alerts here. Google now allows you to add preferred news sources. Set SFGATE as one of yours to see more of us when you search.