Ford reverses course and will keep AM radio 🎙️

[OneAlienBoi]

Maybe if you listened to AM radio you would know it's not Conservative Wack Jobs shoving Big Government down our throats. Quite the opposite.

So it's conservative wackjobs complaining about the government? I would hate it equally if it was leftist extremists pushing their opinions on me as well for what it's worth. Again, like I said in my original post, I'm just going off what I've heard. I'm happy if that's not the case and it's just a bunch of chill radio hosts hanging out.

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[crgator]

I don't want to pay more for a car just to have features I'll never use.

I'm sure we all pay more to have features we'll never use. I have Apple Car Play, but why should I pay for it, I use Android Auto. Unless you can completely customize your vehicle with only the items you want, I'm sure your cost will go up.

 

[commadorebob]

Don't use it? Then don't use it. Just because it is not useful to you, doesn't mean it is not useful to others.

It obviously costs nothing either way. Ford is literally adding it back with a software update. Almost willing to bet there is a simple flag in the code the just set to 0 in the EVs as I doubt they are custom building Sync for each model. (Then again, my Explorer still doesn't have a software fix for a feature that has been on two loaner F-150s since. So, maybe they are...)

 

[dalola]

lol.... gotta love these "if I'm not interested in it, no one should be" geniuses that know better than everyone else.

Having the choice to not listen to AM, even tho you could, is better than not having that choice, I would argue.

 

[Kevin1987]

https://apnews.com/article/am-radio-ford-cars-congress-bill-aec6e6405d33ff95cff3dd31bef617db

Ford decides to keep AM radio on 2024 models, will restore AM on two electric vehicles from 2023

May 23, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all.

CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations.

“We’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” Farley wrote on Twitter and LinkedIn. “For any owners of Ford’s EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley wrote.

The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.

Sponsors of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” cited public safety concerns, noting AM’s historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as natural disasters, especially to rural areas.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill’s sponsors, has said eight of 20 major automakers including Ford, BMW and Tesla have pulled the band from new vehicles.

“Ford’s reversal reflects an overdue realization about the importance of AM radio, but too many automakers are still going the wrong direction,” Markey said in a written statement Tuesday. He said Congress should still pass the bill to keep access to the band.

Ford removed AM from the 2023 Mustang Mach-e and F-150 Lightning electric pickups after data collected from vehicles showed that less than 5% of customers listened to it, spokesman Alan Hall said. Electrical interference and reducing cost and manufacturing complexity also played a role.

The company also took it out of the 2024 gasoline-powered Mustang, but will add it back in before any of the muscle cars are delivered, Hall said.

The EVs will get an online software update to put AM back into the vehicles, and Ford will keep including it in future vehicles as it looks at innovative ways to deliver emergency alerts, Hall said.

Ford and others also suggested that internet radio or other communication tools could replace AM radio. But Markey and others pointed to situations where drivers might not have internet access.

The Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Broadcasters praised the legislation, which is also backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., among others.

But the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. trade group that represents major automakers including Ford and BMW, criticized the bill, calling the AM radio mandate unnecessary.

The trade group pointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System, which can distribute safety warnings across AM, FM, internet-based and satellite radios — as well as over cellular networks.

The alliance said the bill gives preference to a technology that’s competing with other communications options.

Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from BMW and Tesla.

According to the National Association of Broadcasters and Nielsen data, more than 80 million people in the U.S. listen to AM radio every month.

Good. I listen to a lot of Giants baseball games on AM Radio.

 

[Kevin1987]

Such BS AM radio needs to die. I don't know a single person who listens to AM anymore, so this just seems like big government forcing their hand, threatening companies unless they cha ge course .

Not sure how true this is, I haven't listened to AM for about 15 years, so this could be wrong. But I've heard it's gone downhill, like full on conservative wackjobs extremist radio show hosts levels of downhill. If that's the case, I want nothing to do with it.

It doesn't cost that much more to program AM radio functions into a car, but it still costs more period. I don't want to pay more for a car just to have features I'll never use.

Only way I get baseball games on the radio is through AM. I use it almost daily. lol

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I just got mine last month, and expected it to be missing AM. It had it though. Even though I rarely use it, I like to have it, as there are so few radio stations up in northern NH to begin with.

 

[JimParker256]

Ahhh yes! I can listen to my alternator through my speakers again!

But you drive a hybrid, so you don't have an alternator...

 

[Tailender]

I'm one of the 80 million that listen to am radio. I listen for info because there is little music I listen to. What music I do listen to is on a thumb drive plugged into my truck.

 

[Maverstang]

Does AM band radio really cost much to put in vehicles?

There are actually two parts to the AM radio implementation issue.

First, the highly commoditized radio semiconductor devices used in radios can do AM, FM, and even more things. So there is no real hardware cost to implement AM, maybe just a couple of coils/caps in the RF front end. The user interface and display are digital, so no direct hardware cost there either, just software.

But the real issue is having to engineer the suppression of spurious RF emissions from all the electronics, especially the drive controllers and inverters in hybrids and EVs. They produce a ton of emissions, especially in low frequency AM bands resulting in high interference noise levels. This was the motivation to get rid of AM in the first place.

There is only so much that can be done on spurious emissions suppression, so even though AM is back, it certainly won’t be as good as it was in your old Crown Victoria (or Galaxie 500).

It was an easy choice for Ford to make the politician problem go away.

 

[Chicolini]

Who are these 80 million people? I haven't listened to AM radio in 45 years. I haven't listened to FM radio in years either.

We are out here.

We have been avoiding you. It's working just fine, thank you.

 

[phillipl8]

From what little I have scanned on AM, it is mostly sports talk and religious programming. Some music and a bit of talk radio.

Really don't listen much, but prefer it to stay.

 

[zach57x]

I like am radio to listen to all the sports games

 

[ripperAZ]

Such BS AM radio needs to die. I don't know a single person who listens to AM anymore, so this just seems like big government forcing their hand, threatening companies unless they cha ge course .

Not sure how true this is, I haven't listened to AM for about 15 years, so this could be wrong. But I've heard it's gone downhill, like full on conservative wackjobs extremist radio show hosts levels of downhill. If that's the case, I want nothing to do with it.

It doesn't cost that much more to program AM radio functions into a car, but it still costs more period. I don't want to pay more for a car just to have features I'll never use.

AA, AAA baseball regional sports live on AM radio if you live in the middle of Iowa or Nebraska, the farm reports are valuable and useful it’s a cheap technology. All they can do is remove it and cost nothing to add it, so why make it go away. Plus if you put on an oldies station listen to it you can drive around and pretend you're in 1955 with the crackle.

 

[ripperAZ]

From what little I have scanned on AM, it is mostly sports talk and religious programming. Some music and a bit of talk radio.

Really don't listen much, but prefer it to stay.

Pretty much all of the regional sports in the center of the country on am radio most AA and AAA baseball almost all high school sports

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