Automakers Want AM Radios Out of Cars. Congress Is About to Require Them
Automakers Want AM Radios Out of Cars. Congress Is About to Require Them
A popular bill will force car companies to put AM radios in vehicles at no extra charge, despite decreasing interest from drivers and potential electromagnetic interference.
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The problem is AM radios in electric vehicles. AM radio picks up interference from electricity, as most people who listen to AM radio and have driven under high power lines already know.
So electric car manufacturers want to sub in FM/Bluetooth radios instead.
You want your AM radio trash? That's what "I Heart Radio" is for.
The issue is that AM radio is far more reliable in an emergency:
in a true emergency, seven former FEMA administrators wrote in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the signals that power AM radio are more reliable than FM, phone service, and internet connection. Most of the 75-odd stations with backup communications equipment and generators that allow them to broadcast in a crisis are AM stations, and AM radio covers 100 miles or more, far more territory than FM or any other widely accessible alternative. Source
Not if your car literally produces interference to AM signals
For the 1% of people who look to AM for emergency information. ;)
The idea is that AM is more rugged, it'll be up when other more common forms of emergency communication is down. Internet and TV are both fragile, relatively speaking. FM covers less range. So yeah, while few people use it actively, when a true crisis hits, it's nice to have a stable fallback. ;)
You live in Hurricane territory you know exactly what channel it is
Sorry to busy drinking to worry about using a radio.
Live through one category 5 hurricane then get back to me about how tough you are big guy.
Hurricane party time?
The problem is AM radios in electric vehicles. AM radio picks up interference from electricity, as most people who listen to AM radio and have driven under high power lines already know.
Not just EVs. When I drove a 2003 Civic Hybrid AM radio was worthless there too. So its:
- Hybrids
- Plugin Hybrids
- BEVs
- Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles too?
So anything but ICE. So all the cars that offer any kind of better environmental impact that full ICE have trouble with AM. I don't think AM is worth it for that.
If the justification is that AM radio is useful in emergency scenarios, the sound quality is largely irrelevant. As long as you can make out instructions and warnings that might be given after a disaster (such as “Avoid area A due to flooding”, “Heated shelter available at schools”), then it’s serving its point. Whether it’s good for music or talk shows isn’t the point here.
It's also the fact that if everyone stops using AM, the RFI pollution from EVs and other tech will balloon even more than it already has. Those frequencies are used for a lot more than just emergencies. I'd bet the push for this came from the military or the FCC.
If the justification is that AM radio is useful in emergency scenarios, the sound quality is largely irrelevant.
Then the electric motor was running on my Civic hybrid (accelerating or braking), the only thing you'd hear on any AM station was "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!". Not a single word spoken or note of music was intelligible.
AM would work okay when the car was not driving. If lawmakers want to legislate a radio that only works when the car isn't moving, I suppose they can. It just doesn't seem very useful to me.