There is growing momentum in Congress for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would require automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in new vehicles to ensure public safety. Automakers are opposed to this legislation and claim that listeners desiring AM content can use audio streaming platforms instead (ignoring the fact that streaming services are likely not available during emergencies).

Automakers are especially concerned about being required to provide AM radio in electric vehicles (EVs), claiming electromagnetic interference (EMI) from EV components causes distortion to AM radio signals which is costly to remediate.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) funded a Center for Automotive Research (CAR)  study investigating possible technical solutions and cost mitigation for implementing AM radio in EVs.  The resulting 21-page report includes an estimate that the auto industry will spend $3.8 billion over the next seven years mitigating EMI through shielding and filtering in forecasted EV production.

Significantly, this report finds that “…the cost burden is shared by a number of other electronic modules in EVs that also have EMI mitigation needs, including AM radio.”  According to the report, “CAR’s SME discussions revealed that the material cost of addressing AM band interference in EVs is relatively low because mitigation measures are often necessary and implemented to support other electronic systems susceptible to EMI.”

AAI misrepresents, distorts and spins the results of the report it paid for to advance its position. Let’s set the record straight:

Claim:

Reducing interference to AM radio would cost $3.8 billion over the next seven years.

Fact:

To quote the CAR report (page 11), technical solutions such as the shielding of cables and electrical systems or filters that suppress unwanted EMI “can help mitigate interference with the functioning of electronic modules or components supporting attributes such as vehicle safety, durability, thermal conduction and functional purposes of chassis, body, infotainment and all the associated power distribution needs. They may be useful countermeasures, regardless of the presence of AM radio.”

In other words, these are costs automakers would incur even with no AM radio in EVs.  AAI wrongly attributes the entirety of this $3.8 billion cost to keeping AM radio in EVs, ignoring that these interference-addressing measures are also in use to ensure that many other key operational parts of EVs can function.

Furthermore, the impartial Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost for automakers to ensure AM radio capability in their current and future vehicles under the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act would be far less than the AAI estimate.

Claim:

Techniques and equipment to reduce AM radio interference in electric vehicles add weight to a vehicle, which reduces battery range.

Fact:

The report found from interviews with automakers and experts that a ferrite core filter used to reduce interference to AM radio signals weighs about 2.2 pounds. This is just 0.2% of the weight of an EV battery, which weighs on average 1,000 pounds or more depending on the vehicle model.  And for a Tesla Model Y, weighing in at over 4,000 pounds, that’s a whopping 0.06% of the vehicle’s total weight. (EVs are typically 33% heavier than their gas-powered equivalents.)

Claim:

Addressing interference to AM radio will be an ongoing issue for automakers that would require significant investment.

Fact:

Most of the costs associated with mitigating interference to AM radio would be temporary. The CAR report found future vehicle models would not have the material and test costs for AM radio mitigation that current production EVs would face. This is because the redesign of future vehicles would be optimized for electromagnetic compatibility and “AM radios will not face the same level of EMI as the first-generation EVs.”

Many automakers have already figured out a way to include AM radio in their electric models. Of the 20 EV automakers listed in the report, 12 include or plan to include AM in their EVs (60%). One automaker that had previously announced plans to remove AM radio from future vehicles reversed course and is offering a software update to restore AM radio capability where it has been removed.