Electric vehicles require additional shielding on the motors to eliminate interference with AM radio reception.
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I expect thatās the key issue. EV manufacturers would prefer to install an FM-only radio configuration, b/c if their radio offers AM reception, to make that mode usable, theyād need to install addāl electro-magnetic shielding in their cars. Weight, space, and cost issues.
Late 60ās my dad purchased a new car configured without any radio installed. Normally all new cars came from the factory with a radio, but technically the radio was an option, usually priced around $50-$100 on the option listā¦ Dealership said āok, weāll remove the radioā and priced the car accordingly, radio removed from the option list. When car was ready to be picked up, surpisingly, it had a radio. Dealership said when it came time to remove the radio, the shop technicians said it would cost the more to remove it than just leave it in, no charge to car buyer ā¦ lol ā¦
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Yeah in those days there would usually be a trim plate where the radio was. Sometimes color coded to the dash. Kinda doubt they would have one in stock so why bother.
Iām trying to remember now but when I ordered my 74 olds with the gauge package, they must have used the same space in the instrument cluster that used up the seat belt warning light. So they mounted the light on the dash with a color coded housing. Itās best not to mess with stuff like this from the factory.
My first car was a 1954 Dodge Meadowbrook, 2-door, Club CoupĆ©. I bought it in 1965 from my neighbor, who bought it new with almost every available option (and it came with all its original paperwork, sales slips, window stickers, etcā¦). The special option was the āRed Ramā Hemi V8 engine (not the huge hemi, but a ābaby hemi,ā 241 cu in, rated at 140 HP. It came with a three-speed, column shifter, with a Hydrostatic clutch (Fluid Clutchā¦). Other options were the AM radio (with 7-buttonsā¦), column mounted directionals, a heater, a defroster (both the heater and the defroster had different cores, and blower motors to push air through the heater or the defroster). It even had an air conditioner installed in the trunk, the compressor was powered by an electric motor and it ran vents under the seats and alongside the drive-train hump to cool the front. I miss that carā¦
Here is an advertisement from my hometown newspaper from way back in 1969, Notice the R&H for Radio and Heater in the older carsā¦ I do not know when heaters stopped becoming options, but my '54ās base model had the heater and the defroster as two separate optionsā¦
I worked at a Ford Dealer back then and as the ākid,ā I usually got stuck prepping the new cars and not one of the Ford Falcons came in with a radio. I had to drill the fender, install the antenna, and install the radio. Back then, all came with heatersā¦ When someone wanted an A/C unit, it was a real add-on and hung under the dash on the passengerās side. The push button AM radio cost about $50, there was a straight dial radio option that cost less, but I never put one inā¦
I guess I was six when we got our 54 ford. Canāt recall exactly but seems to me dad mentioned the heater option. After that it wast he 57 ford and there was no mention of it anymore except a clock and back up lights. So I suspect somewhere around 55,56, heaters were just standard, especially in Minnesota. I think they still listed all that stuff on the window sticker though. Yeah I pine for that 57. Never got a chance to drive it. Just couldnāt see over the dash.
Heh heh. I got home from school late one night and mom told me to go out to the garage and see the old car. I got all excited cause Iād been after them to get a second car. So there was the 57 ford with the quarter panel and door all smashed in. Had a little mishap at an intersection that morning. They did a great job fixing it though.
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AM radio is about as obsolete as spark gap transmitters, which were made illegal in 1934.
Emergency services should switch to low power FM.
Thereās plenty of cell towers to put these on for wide coverage.
Maybe but fm is pretty short range. There is one program Iād listen to at night on fm and no static or fade out. Then they switched to an irritating sports show. So back to am for my program and toggle between Chicago, Cincinnati, and Kentucky some place. Canāt do that with fm, and all they have is bbc and music.
I recall WLS,KDKA, WWL and WLAC that were clear channel from sunset ;till sunrise. On weekends in 1964 you would find the Beetles playing on the first three most any time after dark.
I don.t rember the call letters but I do rember hearing stations from chicago boston Cinniati New Orleans but the one I remember the best was the border radio station out of Larado Texas with WOLFMAN JACK.
Late nights in the garage, I used to pull in Little Rock after midnight. After wcco turned to piano music with Hobbs house. Actually our local station had all rock after the afternoon farm reports. They had live requests etc so us teenagers tuned in. Now they are just pre recorded country all night and donāt think they even have anyone working. Storm comes through and never miss a beat.
I think it has something to do with the mass consolidation of all the media in the last 20 years so only a few corporations own all of it. Or 90% anyway.
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I do believe you are right about that.
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Like it or not, those who know what the old days of radio were are fading into history. The majority of the population doesnāt even know what it is, let alone listen to it. Heck, I had to think hard when the last time I had a radio station playing on the radio in my shop. Everything is satellite or streaming in the house and vehicles. Mandating a modern appliance support an antiquated technology seems silly to me. The days of terrestrial radio broadcasts are going the way of the smoke signalā¦
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Yep I remember the old blonde joke explaing that she ould listen to AM in the aftenoon. 
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Heh heh. I had to string a new wire so my guy can change out my hvac control panel and thermostat for wi fi. When I opened up the wall I found the wires I had strung 25/years ago for a security system. One from thr front and one from the back to where the panel was going to go āsometimeā. Too late, everything wireless now but donāt need a system anyway.
It was about 1964, I was too young to drive but I had a 1958 Yamaha 250 motorcycle and my girlfriend hated it. Her favorite song was āLeader of the Packā by the Shangri-Las. It was late, we had attended a movie and we had stopped at a local diner for coffee and the jukebox was broken and they were playing a local station on the radio that was taking requests. I call in from the phone booth (yauāl remember what they are donāt you?) and after 10-minutes or so they played āLeader of the Packā and my girl teared up when āJohnnyā bought it, but the moment kind of was lost as the song ran out, there was no one there to put on the next song and you could hear the āka-pling, ka-pling, ka-pling,ā as the record skipped over the ending, over and over, again and againā¦ Then suddenly, they played it againā¦ I guess someone went out for smoke and ran back in and just restarted itā¦
I think the antics in this video on the Ed Sullivan Show are hystericalā¦
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Thatās funny. The old days, no kids would understand. In 1964 though i had to walk her to the movie. I donāt know if she had a bike or not but I enjoyed the walk.
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WLS was Chicago. KDKA was Pittsburg. WWL, New Orleans and WLAC Nashville Late nights WLAC played the real blues.
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My wife leased her current Hyundai in june 2022. Neither she nor I have yet to use the radio. If she wants music she simply uses Pandora on her phone which is connected to the cars speakers via Android Auto. I dont think we have a working radio in the house. We each have an app on our phones that gets us any radio station in the country and quite a few overseas. Conventional radio is an obsolete technology.
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WLW - the clear channel voice of Cincinnati.
Iāve got my grandfathers floor model Philco. Had to pay $5 for it at his auction. Am, air, sea, short wave but no fm. I think it is a 1948. Used as a kid but I think it needs to be rewired now.