By James Chevrette
Car companies are taking AM and FM radios out of new vehicles. One of the latest to do so is Tesla, which confirmed recently it will remove FM radio from its base Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. This change is creating big challenges and opportunities for companies that sell 12-volt products.
Why Are They Doing This?
According to automotive journalist Lauren Fix from Car Coach Reports, it’s all about money. Car makers lost huge amounts on electric vehicles. Ford lost $44,000 on every electric truck it sold, and now it needs to find new ways to make money.
At first, companies said AM radio interfered with electric cars. But Fix says that’s not true. Car makers solved this problem back in the 1950s when Chrysler added electronic fuel injection. The same fix works today.
The Real Plan: Subscriptions
Car makers tried charging monthly fees for things like heated seats and navigation. Customers hated it. Now they have a new plan: control all the entertainment in your car.
GM and other brands are removing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Instead, they want you to use their own Google-based systems. Why? Because every app on your car screen costs them money in fees. If they control everything, they keep all the subscription money instead.
Free AM and FM radio is their biggest problem. It gives drivers a free option instead of paying for streaming services.
Fighting Back
Congress is currently considering the “AM for All Cars Act.” AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, the Senate Bill 1669 and House Bill HR 3413. The reason? Safety. AM radio sends out emergency warnings for tornadoes, missing children, and other dangers. It works even when cell phone service doesn’t.
Customers are pushing back too. Ford brought AM radio back after people complained. Volvo and Stellantis did the same thing. Toyota and Honda now advertise that their cars have AM and FM radio because they know customers want choices.
So even if the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act passes through Congress to become law, if vehicle makers remove FM, it’s an opportunity for the aftermarket to sell new radios that include it.
AM/FM radio still accounts for roughly 66 percent of all ad-supported audio listening time. In rural areas, residents spend about 43 percent of their daily audio time on AM/FM radio, (compared to just 34 percent for urban residents), according to recent Edison Research on “Most AM/FM Radio Listening Remains on Radio Receivers.”
Once again, if vehicles continue to lose FM radio, the aftermarket may gain an opportunity to sell radios that offer FM.
Source: CBT, Car Coach Reports
Carl J. Toms River NJ
I live in Toms River NJ and have a 2020 Subaru. Having been in electronics my whole life I added a small AM amplifier that adds signal to shark fin antenna on roof. There isn’t a signal out there that I can hear, regardless of power line interference that lowers the am signal to me.
I can hear WBZ 1030 am here in Jersey day or night. Shark fins are a dumb idea. Whips were the best. Old radios were the best.
“Car makers solved this problem back in the 1950s when Chrysler added electronic fuel injection…”
“Electronic”, vs. mechanical fuel injection would first appear circa 1970 w/ Volkswagen’s Bosch electronic fuel injection in the Type 3 Fastback and Wagon, not that AM radio was EVER a source of interference for carburetors, or correctly the opposite, carburetors were never a source of interference to AM radio.
Ignition noise, and before alternators circa early 1960’s, generator noise were the primary interference sources.
Modern vehicle electronics are a *source*’of noise, but at a minimum must meet FCC part 15 emissions. Additional filtering of conducted (radio power supply) and reduction of radiated emissions to lower than the part 15 limits from ~500 kHz to ~ 2000 kHz range at least should not be an insurmountable obstacle.
As a (retired) broadcast engineer, and a car guy – I recently owned cars ranging from the 1960’s to a current production model, I can not understand how this statement makes any sense: …”companies said AM radio interfered with electric cars. But Fix says that’s not true. Car makers solved this problem back in the 1950s when Chrysler added electronic fuel injection…” An AM receiver does NOT cause a problem to a car – either ignition or fuel system. Indeed, it’s the other way around! It’s the vehicle that is likely to cause a problem to the radio, and in particular an electric vehicle. I have seen that argument made before, and there is simply no justification that I can think of for holding the position that a radio will interfere with the operation of the car. Am I wrong?
Damn right!.
You are not wrong. I’ve recently retired from private mobile radio engineering and a radio receiver can in no way ‘interfere’ with a car’s electronic systems. However, a car’s electrical system can and frequently does cause interference to in-car radio reception. This is especially true of EV’s, as the huge amounts of current to drive the motors is pulse-width modulated and generates harmonics all over the radio bands.
When metro traffic gets tough, I rely on traffic reports that are on FM. Glad I own nothing new and never will.
Capitalism at work. Step on my own mother’s neck to increase profits.
As if the news hasn’t been bad enough lately. Until the public completely rejects the subscription methodology of these companies they’re just going to keep gobbling up tons of money every month and ensuring their customers “own nothing”.
awful.