- Thread starter
- #1
Ford has announced they are eliminating AM radio in new vehicles. They are doing it in gas and electric vehicles, whereas others are only doing it with electric vehicles.
Sponsored
This is a very good point. When cell phone service is interrupted, terrestrial radio can always serve as a backup.As someone who spends 99.9999% of the time in Carplay listening to internet radio of some form, I disagree with AM being discontinued because it transits very long distances and has backup requirements at an absolute minimum of 8 hours without power loss. Accordingly, it serves an important purpose in true emergencies. I remember listening to AM radio during the 9/11 attacks, during the 2003 Northeast blackout (where the Northeast up into Canada lost power, people thought it was another terrorist attack), after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (didn't have electrical service or cable/internet for a week).
One might say 2012 was over a decade ago, but in tried and true emergencies, it is an extremely useful tool accessible from a variety of devices, including handheld battery powered ones and vehicles. I don't think that removing it is meaningfully beneficial to vehicle owners.
WBZ 1030 just saved me from 2 hours of traffic on a 45 minute drive due to a truck rollover that I would've been stuck in immediately after emergency oral surgery in Natick last Monday. It's the only am radio I listen to but I think it's a critical source of news and it would be a shame to lose that.I still listen to AM running errands around town. WBZ News radio 1030 AM Boston.
Ford dropping AM is o.k. since I am using Android Auto now.