According to the Bellevue, Washington company, show managers offered a basement exhibit space in conjunction with billboard locations throughout the hall to drive traffic downstairs. However, AFS Trinity claims its ads were rejected because they say that the XH-150 SUV gets 150 miles per gallon.

The prototype SUV has not been tested by the EPA as yet. When vehicles are offered for sale they are only allowed to display EPA-approved numbers. But AFS Trinity says because it is not a production vehicle, it should be able to claim the MPG it has observed during internal testing.

AFS says the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association, which operates the LA Auto Show, made its decision about the billboards because it wants to protect Detroit automakers.

"The suppression by the automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies," said Edward W. Furia, Chairman and CEO of AFS Trinity, in a press release.

The company say it will buy an exhibit space elsewhere in LA during the auto show.

Instead of relying on lithium ion batteries like its Detroit competitors, AFS Trinity's plug-in SUV will use ultracapacitors to store energy. AFS Trinity says it has offered to license its technology to automakers, but they have not received any response.

AFS Trinity's claims of censorship may be sour grapes over its lack of success in convincing automakers to license its technology and create the volume production to bring down the cost of ultracapacitors, which has been several times that of batteries.