The Federal debt ceiling is a gnarly debate for law makers on opposite sides of the aisle and is the one currently grabbing headlines. But lawmakers do have something they seem to all agree on: Keeping AM radio in cars.
AM broadcasting has become an odd political issue, pitting free market principles against consumer protection, with science, and electric vehicles, stuck in the middle.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat, praised
Ford Motor
(ticker: F) for deciding to keep AM radio in its vehicles. He is member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and co-author of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is a co-sponsor of the bill, along with several other Democrats and Republicans.
In praising Ford, Markey pointed out that AM radio is used for emergency broadcasting. Cruz called it “a critical bulwark of democracy.”
Investors, and car buyers, can be forgiven if they didn’t realize there was pending legislation about AM car radio. And with the advent of smartphones, podcasts and ubiquitous 5G connectivity, they can also be forgiven if they didn’t know an AM radio tuner isn’t in their current ride.
A handful of auto makers have discontinued AM radio.
Mazda
(MZDAY), in a response to a letter from Markey, explained why. “Support for AM in the [Mazda] MX-30 for all markets was dropped due to poor reception quality caused by electromagnetic interference from the [all battery-electric] MX-30’s battery-powered motor and electronics,” reads part of the company’s answers.
“In Europe, analog AM radio broadcasts have been replaced with digital audio broadcasts…in Japan, all AM radio stations are simulcast in FM,” Mazda added.
Tesla
(TSLA), the global EV leader, hasn’t offered AM radio for years. It hasn’t been an issue for the company in the marketplace.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said on Twitter Tuesday that after speaking with policy makers about AM’s importance to the emergency alert system, AM will be included in all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles. Ford EV owners who don’t have AM radio will be getting a software update, he said.
AM, short for amplitude modulation, uses longer radio broadcast wavelengths than FM, which is short for frequency modulation. Very simply, the shorter wavelength gives FM an information-sending advantage over AM, which is partly responsible for FM’s better sound in conventional car radios.
AM and FM radio signals can be digitized, reducing the potential for interference. Farley said Ford owners can listen to AM radio in their vehicles in a variety of ways, including streaming.
AM radio’s plight is just the latest thing changing in the more than century old car business. The radio dates back to 1901 and Guglielmo Marconi. The Model T dates back to 1908. Cars first got their radios in the 1920s. (They were decried as a safety hazard.) For generations, radios and internal combustion engines have ruled the roads.
Now batteries are threatening engines, which unexpectedly, is hurting AM radio.
The government sees fit to save it. The government also plays a role, indirectly, in the shift to EVs running on batteries by setting ever tightening emission standards that make gasoline-powered vehicles more expensive to manufacture.
Regulations always matter, but so do consumers. EVs didn’t really take off until Tesla made battery-powered cars that excited people. Today EV prices are approaching parity with gasoline cars, while EVs are also cheaper to operate and maintain. Charging infrastructure in the U.S. is improving, too. Gas-powered vehicles still have their advantages, with gas stations being one of them.
It’s fair to ask why the market can’t work out the AM radio issue for itself. Markey’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Ford says there isn’t a cost associated with keeping AM radio. The 2023 model year EVs still have the same hardware earlier models have to reduce electrical interference.
So there is a cost for AM, just not an incremental cost. Lawmakers are talking about AM radio in the context of new cars. They’re not out to change radio tuners already in use, same as the gas stove debate applies only to new construction, not existing residential use.
Ford stock closed up 0.8% on Tuesday while the
S&P 500
and
Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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