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Comment by Aloha | Hacker News Reader

The cost isn't in the radio, you have a single chip which is a complete AM/FM radio - the cost is in making cars quiet enough from an EMI point of view - something which, IMO, they should have to do anyhow to comply with Part 15.

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RE "...they should have to do anyhow to comply with Part 15....." Yes I agree 110% So should al the manufactures of LED lights and numerous other gadgets ....

This seems like a super important fact for the discussion. Do you have a cite that it really constrains the rest of the car?

"Several automakers, most notably Tesla and Ford, have decided to stop putting AM radios in their electric vehicles. They claim their electric motors interfere with the audio quality of the signal and insist that FM and satellite radio are enough."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/am-radio-congress-automakers/

I can find other references as well if you want. EMI in cars has been an issue for a long time, automakers however did do the needed work suppress the noise from spark plugs, I do not see this as any different.

Thanks!

Any idea if the law requires the redesign (i.e., requires that the AM radio meets some level of audio quality when operating in the vehicle) or if it just requires the AM radio to be present and (somewhat understandably) the manufacturer don’t want to include an AM radio if it consistently sounds bad?

No, but they would to avoid customer complaints at the dealer level - I dont think its a huge cost to add needed filtering.

If the reason for keeping an AM radio is really emergencies, then they could keep it in but only have it work when the car is stationary/motor is off. Rebrand it as "emergency radio" rather than AM radio so people don't complain.

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