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There's a war between US lawmakers and the car industry over ancient radio technology. As more carmakers ditch AM radios inside their cars, the authorities consider the old tech a safety feature. A group of bipartisan senators introduced legislation to bar carmakers from eliminating the AM radios in their vehicles.
Back in the old days, a radio receiver was considered a worthy upgrade on a luxury car. It took a while before the radio became standard equipment in all vehicles. Later, it was integrated with the car's systems, becoming an "infotainment system." Whether it offered a cassette player, a CD player, or streaming, the radio receiver has been a mainstay of the multimedia unit. In the streaming era, radio is already considered ancient technology. Radio doesn't offer much to drivers, even in its modern, digital form, as most of them prefer to listen to Spotify anyway.
That's why carmakers started to quietly remove radios from their vehicles. In some cases, carmakers dropped the AM radio, and in some cases, they ditched the radio receiver altogether. This left streaming services as the only option to tune in to radio stations. Today, most vehicles sold in the US come without the AM radio, and people started noticing. Although the sound quality of AM stations is garbage, the technology has the advantage that it can broadcast over long distances. In contrast, FM signal travels in a straight line only and is limited to about 30-40 miles (50-60 km) of range due to the Earth's curvature.
This makes the AM broadcast ideal for transmitting emergency alerts and traffic information. Some even claim that AM radio stations are more resilient when facing cyber attacks and even a nuclear war. That's why US lawmakers have rallied to fight the trend of disappearing AM radios from modern vehicles, considering them a safety feature.
A group of bipartisan US lawmakers has introduced a bill to bar carmakers from eliminating AM radios from their vehicles. They say losing AM radio undermines the federal system that delivers critical public safety information. The bill proposes that the NHTSA drafts regulations to mandate AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. The bill's sponsors include Senators Ted Cruz, Tammy Baldwin, Deb Fischer, Ben Ray Luján, and J.D. Vance and Representative Josh Gottheimer. As expected, the auto industry is trying to fight the proposal.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing major automakers, believes that mandating AM radios in all vehicles is unnecessary. They point out that the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System (IPAWS) can already distribute warnings across a range of technologies, including AM, FM, internet-based or satellite radio, as well as over cellular networks. Carmakers have also claimed that electromagnetic interferences jam AM radio signals in electric vehicles. Still, that didn't prevent Nissan and Hyundai from offering an AM radio in the Leaf and Ioniq Electric.
That's why carmakers started to quietly remove radios from their vehicles. In some cases, carmakers dropped the AM radio, and in some cases, they ditched the radio receiver altogether. This left streaming services as the only option to tune in to radio stations. Today, most vehicles sold in the US come without the AM radio, and people started noticing. Although the sound quality of AM stations is garbage, the technology has the advantage that it can broadcast over long distances. In contrast, FM signal travels in a straight line only and is limited to about 30-40 miles (50-60 km) of range due to the Earth's curvature.
This makes the AM broadcast ideal for transmitting emergency alerts and traffic information. Some even claim that AM radio stations are more resilient when facing cyber attacks and even a nuclear war. That's why US lawmakers have rallied to fight the trend of disappearing AM radios from modern vehicles, considering them a safety feature.
A group of bipartisan US lawmakers has introduced a bill to bar carmakers from eliminating AM radios from their vehicles. They say losing AM radio undermines the federal system that delivers critical public safety information. The bill proposes that the NHTSA drafts regulations to mandate AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. The bill's sponsors include Senators Ted Cruz, Tammy Baldwin, Deb Fischer, Ben Ray Luján, and J.D. Vance and Representative Josh Gottheimer. As expected, the auto industry is trying to fight the proposal.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing major automakers, believes that mandating AM radios in all vehicles is unnecessary. They point out that the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System (IPAWS) can already distribute warnings across a range of technologies, including AM, FM, internet-based or satellite radio, as well as over cellular networks. Carmakers have also claimed that electromagnetic interferences jam AM radio signals in electric vehicles. Still, that didn't prevent Nissan and Hyundai from offering an AM radio in the Leaf and Ioniq Electric.
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