For the past few years, there has been a quiet fight over the future of AM radio in cars. To keep the national emergency alert system that relies on AM working, some automakers have stopped putting the feature in their cars, which has led to congressional action. Even though automakers have tried to explain why they decided to stop using AM radio, new records from trade groups show that their reasons were always financial. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is a lobbying group that tries to weaken right-to-repair laws. In October, the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank, released a document that was against Congress’s bipartisan AM radio requirement. The groups say that the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2023 will hurt both automakers and consumers, and they list a number of possible results. People say that the high-voltage drivetrains of electric cars (EVs) cause electromagnetic interference, which lowers the quality of sound and calls for stronger defenses. They say this would not only cut down on range but also make prices go up by up to $70 per car. The whole amount could reach $3.8 billion by 2030. They say that most car buyers aren’t interested in the feature because people who used to listen to AM radio are now using more modern forms of media. Also, the AAI wrote a blog post that needed to be more accurate when it said that automakers need more room to put AM receivers behind dashboards. But the industry’s case is only about money since the other points either need to be more logical or have already been shown to be false. Let’s start with the claim that EVs cause disturbance, which is not backed up by evidence. Everyday cars with combustion engines, like the 2024 Ford Mustang, no longer have AM radios. In fact, the Mustang doesn’t even have a high-voltage motor. Anecdotal evidence from EV owners using handheld AM receivers says that interference isn’t too bad, which means that the drivetrains were probably well protected from the start. Also, the study only says that interference countermeasures add 2.2 pounds of weight, which is a little. Another reason is that EVs could be more appealing to people who listen to AM radio. The Center for American Progress says that across the country, 91% of political AM radio shows are run by right-wing groups. We can’t know for sure that AM listeners are conservative, but this does show that they lean that way. Reports that automakers are trying to get rid of AM radio have also been widely (and wrongly) misunderstood as an effort to shut down right-wing political media. These groups aren’t buying electric vehicles (EVs), which are often (but not always) sold to people who care about the environment. Also, it needs to be clarified if the auto business is telling the truth about how much the AM radio bill in Congress costs. A spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters told Automotive News, “The unbiased Congressional Budget Office estimates that the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act would require automakers to spend a fraction of their estimate to make sure that electric vehicles can connect to local AM radio stations.” The industry will likely lose the war against AM radio, even though it only costs carmakers a little money. The AM radio bill has 180 (out of 435, or 41%) House sponsors and 37 Senate sponsors. It has backing from both parties in Congress. Officials from both the past and the present FEMA have supported the bill, and the current government has been asked to do the same. More than 90% of the country’s people can be reached in an emergency by just 75 AM radio programs. This is because AM radio is simple, cheap, long-distance, and widely used. It’s the main part of our country’s emergency signal system for a reason. Even though Washington, D.C., is stuck in a political stalemate, it looks like the Americans will win the fight for the airwaves.
