Will EVs Mean the End of AM Radio In Cars?

Some carmakers are leaving AM radios out of their new cars. They say it's because of audio quality, but it isn't that simple. James Gilboy writes via The Drive. From the report: BMW and Volvo told me it was due to audio quality problems rooted in electromagnetic interference, of which EVs' drivetrains produce a significant amount. Cars' engines and other complex electronics have always made EM interference, but low-wattage static is relatively easy to shield against. It's not as simple with EVs that may pull hundreds of watts from their batteries, generating far more interference, reducing audio quality to a level both BMW and Volvo told me they consider insufficient. But it's hard to take them at their word when EVs are built with AM radios and in no small numbers. Detroit's Three -- Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis -- have produced or currently make EVs that include AM radio, even on flagship models. That goes for the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, GM EVs from the Cadillac Lyriq to the Chevy Bolt EUV and GMC Hummer EV, and even Stellantis's almost-forgotten Fiat 500e. Clearly, some carmakers don't think EM interference is a problem, and some EV owners agree. One user of an EV forum user said that AM radio "works fine" in their 500e and older Chevy Bolt. We contacted all three of Detroit's giants for why they continue to include AM radios when some European makes have phased them out, but the answer establishes itself across those very same lines. AM radio has fallen out of favor in Europe, with Radio Info reporting in 2015 that stations were shutting down en masse from France to the Netherlands and Russia. The frequency has largely been superseded by the DAB format, which is a more advanced form of radio broadcasting with better audio quality and choice of stations. AM radio stations and their listeners are all but gone in Europe, so European carmakers may not need to include technology that many of its customers can't use. In the U.S., on the other hand, radio remains a must for car buyers, with 89 percent of responders in a 2021 survey stating radio should be standard in new cars. That makes radio even more important to U.S. car buyers than USB ports, which only 84 percent said were necessary. AM audiences were in rapid decline as of a 2017 report by Inside Radio, but not to enough a degree for American carmakers to leave AM radios out of their products. It's not hard to figure out why AM's holding on here, either: AM signals travel further than FM broadcasts do and are cheaper to transmit, allowing them to cater to audiences in sparsely populated areas. Audio quality can't compare, but that's secondary to having anything to listen to at all in some parts of the continental United States.

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