Bill Mandating AM Radio in New Cars Advances

A House committee decided overwhelmingly in favor of a bill requiring all new cars to come with AM radio at no extra cost to the owner

Now, the AM for Every Vehicle Act will go to the House floor to be approved by the whole house. If it passes, it will go to the president’s desk to be made into law unless he or she vetoes it.

Supporters of the bill have said that the software-defined vehicle’s effect on AM radio could make it hard to send out emergency information, especially in rural areas. The bill was presented in May 2023 after car companies like Ford, Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen said they would take AM radio out of all new electric vehicles (EVs). They said this because the sound of AM radio stations can get messed up by EV engines.

Ford changed its mind soon after lawmakers proposed the bill. Ford told TechCrunch then that less than 5% of its users listened to AM radio.