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posted by janrinok on Wednesday May 24 2023, @10:47AM   Printer-friendly

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/05/ev-advocates-join-tech-groups-and-automakers-to-oppose-am-radio-mandate/

Congress wants to force AM into every new car for emergency alerts.

The fight over the future of AM radio got a little more heated this week as organizations representing the auto and technology industries told Congress that its plan to mandate this mode of radio wave reception is poorly conceived and will hinder progress.

AM radio has seen almost every other in-car entertainment option come and go—vinyl, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs—and it might predate just about everything other than playing "I Spy," but time is catching up with this old broadcast technology. It is starting to get left behind as new models—many of which are electric vehicles—drive off into the sunset, streaming their audio instead of modulating its amplitude.

[...] "As more and more Americans adopt electric vehicles, we must ensure that they are equipped with AM radio. AM radio is—and will remain—an essential communications channel for emergency alerts and for disseminating news and other important information to residents of our district and communities across our country. I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan legislation which would ensure that EVs continue to be equipped with this basic but critical capability," said Rep. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), another co-sponsor.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 24 2023, @04:39PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday May 24 2023, @04:39PM (#1307952)

    The problem is all the complexity.

    The damn thing is a vehicle. It just needs to roll down the road in the right direction and stop when necessary. I do like me some air conditioning, and that's about it.

    Want audio entertainment? How about a fully independent bluetooth speaker setup installed in the car that you can then pair with your phone, or whatever, to drive it? Zero interaction with the rest of the vehicle beyond power input to the speaker system.

    Want GPS mapping? How about a decent phone and/or tablet holder on the dashboard?

    Climate control? Like audio entertainment: power input only, zero integration with the rest of the vehicle systems. And, FFS, physical knob controls.

    CAN bus is nice in theory, but it should be clearly segregated and not be functionally dependent on optional systems.

    Theft protection? If you're an EV, embed a relay so deep into the drivetrain that you'd have to disassemble most of the vehicle to get into it to hotwire it. Have that relay demand proof of holding a secret key (much like chip credit cards) before permitting drive power to flow.

    EVs could be so much simpler to maintain than IC cars, but both have moved past Kafka and Dante's 9th level...

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