A recent test of the emergency alert system found only 1 percent got it via AM.
A controversial bill that would require all new cars to be fitted with AM radios looks set to become a law in the near future. Yesterday, Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass) revealed that the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" now has the support of 60 US Senators, as well as 246 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, making its passage an almost sure thing. Should that happen, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be required to ensure that all new cars sold in the US had AM radios at no extra cost.
Requiring the installation of analog AM radios in automobiles is an unnecessary action that would impact EV range, efficiency and affordability (says the lobbyist)
Oh no the vehicle when driving at speed now uses 10001 watts with radio on instead of 10000 watts. Efficiency and range is ruined.
Also the $60k luxury vehicle is now unaffordable when a $1 am receiver is added in the infotainment
The problem isn't the energy use nor the cost of the am radio, it's the amount of shielding and other changes that need to be made so the motor and inverter don't interfere with the am signal. On my bolt there's an am radio, there's some 'stations' that I can hear the actual sound of the motor.
If standards aren't set and enforced for that shielding, it won't just be radio in cars that don't work. That RFI travels like a tiny broadband (as in multiple frequencies) radio station... because it is. The impacts are compounded the more cars are like that.