Car manufacturers such as Ford, BMW or Tesla have removed AM and FM radios from their latest models.
According to The Washington Post, the decision by car companies to eliminate access to the audio function has been influenced by a decline in the medium’s consumer base as well as a quirk of electric motors disrupting its signal.
BMW, Mazda, Polestar, Rivian, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo have already removed the audio function from their electric vehicles, while Ford has announced it will extend its phase-out to both future electric and gasoline models. Will do
But Nissan, Toyota and Honda are standing firm against the forced removal of the frequency, while a group of bipartisan US lawmakers has prepared a bill to prevent automakers from doing so.
The bill would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue rules mandating the inclusion of AM radios in new vehicles at no additional cost, Reuters reports.
Democratic Senator Edward Markey, one of the bill’s sponsors, declared: “Automakers should not remove AM radio from new vehicles or put it behind expensive digital paywalls.”
Lawmakers argue that it undermines a federal system for the public to obtain critical public safety information.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing major automakers, said: “Forcing AM radios to be installed in all vehicles is unnecessary. Congress has never mandated radio features in vehicles. The makers are 100% committed to ensuring that drivers have access to the public. Alerts and safety advice.”
Ford’s recent decision was supported by company data that said AM radio accounted for less than 5% of car listening.
But the National Association of Broadcasters estimates that 82 million people in the United States listen to AM stations each month.
In the UK, according to RadioToday, recent figures also show that AM/FM listening has increased from 34.2% to 35.6%.
