US House Passes Bill to Mandate AM Radio in Vehicles Amidst Controversy
TapTechNews September 24th news, according to The Paper, on September 18th, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2024, requiring that AM (amplitude modulation radio) functions must be retained in vehicles manufactured and sold in the US. The bill was passed with a result of 45 votes to 2 and is now awaiting final approval by the full House of Representatives.
According to the new bill, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will issue a rule requiring automakers to retain the AM radio function in vehicle design and ensure that this function is not charged separately or additionally. Before the NHTSA enacts the new regulation, automakers that sell cars without an AM radio station must disclose this fact to potential customers.
Supporters worry that the gradual disappearance of AM radio may prevent people from obtaining information during natural disasters or other emergency events.
In recent years, many automakers have cancelled the AM function one after another, citing that the AM signal is vulnerable to interference and has a poor user experience. It is reported that many automakers including emerging brands such as Tesla, Polestar, and Rivian, as well as traditional brands such as Ford, Mazda, and BMW have launched new models without AM radio functions in recent years.
AM (amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency modulation) are two different radio broadcasting modulation methods. AM transmits information by changing the amplitude of the radio wave, while FM transmits information by changing the frequency of the radio wave. FM has stronger anti-interference ability, while AM is relatively weak, but AM has a farther transmission distance and a wider coverage range.
The bill points out that AM radio is often used to broadcast emergency alerts and news. Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts and a co-author of the bill, said that as the hurricane season approaches, ensuring that this life-saving communication tool remains in the car is more important than ever.
However, critics believe that the bill may increase the production cost of electric vehicles. Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, said that electric vehicle companies will have to undertake major powertrain and vehicle redesigns because electric motors generate a certain degree of electromagnetic interference.
TapTechNews noticed that also on September 18th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China also publicly solicited opinions on the mandatory national standard for the revision plan project of the In-Vehicle Wireless Radio Receiving System, emphasizing that the in-vehicle wireless radio receiving system is an important infrastructure to ensure that the public can quickly and effectively receive authoritative emergency information in a sudden emergency state.