Report: Auto Industry Cool to Keeping AM in EVs

Automakers have replied to U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s letter urging them to maintain broadcast AM radio as a feature in electric vehicles and other future vehicles. But the auto industry’s response by no means offers any guarantees that the senior band will remain in the dashboard going forward, reports Radio World.

Markey wrote in December to all the big automakers: Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, BMW and Kia among them. He asked for a thorough accounting of where AM radio receivers stand in the view of automakers and to inform him of any plans to discontinue access to AM in new cars.

The auto industry response comes from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and appears to be a resounding non-endorsement of AM radio. In fact, the letter makes no mention of the industry’s intentions of keeping AM radio intact in the dashboard.

Sen. Ed Markey

Markey’s letter to automakers had put a strong focus on the emergency alerting capabilities of AM radio: “A phase-out of broadcast AM in new vehicles could pose a significant communication problem during emergencies. Given AM radio’s importance for emergency communications and continued consumer demand, I urge your company to maintain the feature in its new vehicles,” he wrote.

However, the response from the industry focuses instead on utilizing emerging technologies for emergency alerting, including Wireless Emergency Alerts through mobile phones. Other advancements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, like the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), can be used “as redundant alert mechanisms,” the letter says.

The auto industry letter, provided to Radio World by the alliance, states that both the federal government and the automotive industry “recognize that the ways in which consumers receive information will change with innovation.”

It also points out that many AM radio broadcasters have adapted their services across the United States and the world.

“In North America, many AM broadcasters have made their content available via digital formats (via streaming for example) and compatible smartphone applications. In Europe, analog AM radio broadcasts have been replaced with Digital Audio Broadcasts (DAB).