US Congress set to demand all car manufacturers include this old technology in new cars

The US Congress is set to demand that all car manufacturers include this old technology in new cars.

That technology being the AM Radio, which was the first method developed for audio radio transmissions.

Nowadays, frequency modulation (FM) is more commonly used.

But the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is set to guarantee that AM is not neglected.

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Why the US Congress is requiring this old technology in new cars

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act has received wide support in both the US Senate and the US House.

In the former, it received the backing of 60 co-sponsors and the support of 242 representatives in the latter.

The rationale for this bill is that it would benefit rural areas, where it’s used to access emergency messages and farm reports.

If passed, the bill would require the Department of Transportation to issue a rule stating that all cars made in the US or imported would

“…have devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM stations or digital audio AM stations installed as standard equipment and made easily accessible to drivers.”

This is a bi-partisan issue, as the bill’s two main co-sponsors in the Senate come from both sides of the political aisle – Republican Ted Cruz from Texas and Democrat Ed Markey from Massachusetts.

In a joint statement, the two senators said:

“From emergency response to sports, entertainment, and news, AM radio is a lifeline for tens of millions of Americans.”

Speaking to Autoweek, Senator Markey insisted this was an issue many Americans cared about.

“Tens of millions of Americans have made it clear: They want AM radio in their vehicles, not off the dial,” he said.

“With a filibuster-proof 60 co-sponsors for this bipartisan legislation, I am working aggressively to pass my legislation on the Senate floor and enact it into law.”

Why has this technology gone into decline?

Carmakers have been removing AM from their vehicles more and more in recent years.

It’s been claimed that the batteries in EVs cause interference with AM radios.

AM radios are no longer in some EVs made by Tesla, Rivian, Mazda, VW, Volvo, Polestar, and BMW.

It was out of the BMW i3 as early as 2015.

Over in Europe, AM has been effectively phased in many countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium.

It’s still got a hold in Estonia, Greece, Poland, Spain, Hungary, and Romania, however.

This isn’t the only old technology that’s been on the decline in recent years.

Manual transmissions are even facing near extinction in the US – although Ford brought that back for their EVs.

In the US, five-speed manual cars are effectively gone now, thanks to the retirement of the Nissan Versa.

Will the US Congress keep up this idea of old technology in new cars and mandate that makers go back to stick shifts? We have our doubts.

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