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Fewer cars with AM radios...

I'm not addressing all the responses individually, and I did misrepresent the 2035 end date for certain areas (markets) from many new ICE-powered vehicles.

michael hagerty said:
Here are the electric vehicles without AM radio:

All Tesla models, two Mercedes-Benz EVs, two BMW EVs, the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-Tron, VW ID.4, all new Volvos.

That's it. And every one of those is a decidedly low-volume car. Tesla is the only American manufacturer to suggest that interference makes AM untenable in an electric car. Every other American maker of an EV (and every Asian maker) makes it work just fine. The European brands are backing out because the AM band is nearing extinction in their home countries. On higher-volume vehicles, they can budget for AM-capable receivers in North America and another receiver for Europe, but again, these are small-volume vehicles.

As for 2035, that's the date California has mandated the end of sales of new gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles, with the exception of plug-in hybrids that deliver 50 miles of range on a charge and have a gasoline-powered engine and a fuel tank.
<...>
Click to expand...
The whole thread topic is about AM existing in vehicles, where the industry pro's of this forum (like yourself...) tell us is a significant chunk of the current listening audience.

At -some- point (2045 and beyond...) that listening audience won't be there. Will it go away because people just won't be listening to 'broadcast radio' as much as they did back in the early 2020's, because the vehicles they are buying will not have the capability of listening?
 
kwthom said:
The whole thread topic is about AM existing in vehicles, where the industry pro's of this forum (like yourself...) tell us is a significant chunk of the current listening audience.

At -some- point (2045 and beyond...) that listening audience won't be there. Will it go away because people just won't be listening to 'broadcast radio' as much as they did back in the early 2020's, because the vehicles they are buying will not have the capability of listening?
Click to expand...

Good question. I've been in broadcasting for 51 years and haven't yet met anyone who can predict 23 years into the future with any accuracy.

Broadcast radio usage began its decline before vehicles started coming to market without AM receivers.

It'll be a long time before we get to a point where even half of vehicles can't receive AM.

But let's take 2045 and beyond. Assuming ad agencies are still aiming at 25-54 year old people, you're looking at the behaviors of people who today are age 2 to 31. And right now, there's a strong argument that their radio usage is lower than those of us who are older. So behavior, more than availability of receivers, may be what determines how this shakes out.
 
michael hagerty said:
Tesla has not offered cars with AM since 2018. And Elon sees a “not-too-distant future” for a lot of stuff that ends up being vapor.
Click to expand...
Not just AM -- if you order a Tesla with the "Infotainment Upgrade", it removes the AM, FM, and SiriusXM satellite radio. Their justification is "Not all customers use their FM radio. For those that wish to upgrade just their infotainment system, we wanted to provide a lower-priced option." But if you want, you can pay an extra $500 for a "Radio Upgrade" to restore access to FM and SiriusXM, but not AM:

www.tesla.com

Infotainment Upgrade | Tesla Support

Upgrade your Infotainment system to access new features, and for a more advanced and smoother user experience.
www.tesla.com www.tesla.com
 
kevtronics said:
Not just AM -- if you order a Tesla with the "Infotainment Upgrade", it removes the AM, FM, and SiriusXM satellite radio. Their justification is "Not all customers use their FM radio. For those that wish to upgrade just their infotainment system, we wanted to provide a lower-priced option." But if you want, you can pay an extra $500 for a "Radio Upgrade" to restore access to FM and SiriusXM, but not AM:

www.tesla.com

Infotainment Upgrade | Tesla Support

Upgrade your Infotainment system to access new features, and for a more advanced and smoother user experience.
www.tesla.com www.tesla.com
Click to expand...
It notes---this is for Teslas before the 2018 model year. They've since cut the price to $1500 because---say it with me, now:

Elon has once again out-hipped himself and vastly overestimated the number of people willing to pay him to delete stuff.
 
vchimpanzee said:
A man who goes to my church restores cars from the Model T era. Sure they will.
Click to expand...
In the same way the advent of gasoline-powered cars didn’t send Stanley Steamers and Studebaker Electrics to the junkyard, the eventual trend away from fossil-fuel powered cars won’t mean those will cease to exist.

But as time goes by, you won’t see them in the daily commute—just as you rarely see a Model T as a daily driver now.
 
As a point of reference, 15 million Ford Model Ts were sold. It’s believed about 50,000 are still running and registered, with another 200,000 survivors either not in running order or literally in pieces.

The other 14.75 million no longer exist in any form.
 
michael hagerty said:
Correction, David---when sale of new passenger vehicles with internal combustion engines---except plug-in hybrids with at least 50 miles or pure electric range---will be prohibited. In California. It hasn't gone national, yet. But Europe has the same deadline and I'm frankly expecting the manufacturers to beat the deadline.
Click to expand...
So is California going to block diesel semi's from entering the State? Of course not. Just like jets running on jet fuel, there isn't a battery on the horizon that can run 300 gallons of diesel worth of battery.
 
Kelly A said:
So is California going to block diesel semi's from entering the State? Of course not. Just like jets running on jet fuel, there isn't a battery on the horizon that can run 300 gallons of diesel worth of battery.
Click to expand...
Kelly, diesel semis are not passenger vehicles, and California's law is regarding sales of new vehicles within the state, not vehicles from elsewhere driving in or through.
 
michael hagerty said:
In the same way the advent of gasoline-powered cars didn’t send Stanley Steamers and Studebaker Electrics to the junkyard, the eventual trend away from fossil-fuel powered cars won’t mean those will cease to exist.
Click to expand...
I only recently learned about the Studebaker Electric, from an exhibit at the California Auto Museum in Sacramento. Basically a farm wagon with a tiny electric motor - but that was the fashion on the 1900s.
 
I was in Sacramento for a few days this summer. If we happend across each other it would have been a remarkable coincidence.
 
michael hagerty said:
As a point of reference, 15 million Ford Model Ts were sold. It’s believed about 50,000 are still running and registered, with another 200,000 survivors either not in running order or literally in pieces.

The other 14.75 million no longer exist in any form.
Click to expand...
There's a guy here in Rochester who has a Model T as his daily driver, even in the winter. I just saw him out in it on my morning walk.
 
vchimpanzee said:
A man who goes to my church restores cars from the Model T era. Sure they will.
Click to expand...
When David said 'prohibited' I think the actual word should have been 'not sold'. There would be street riots in CA if suddenly all ICE engines were not usable. We had a ten year warning here in AZ when the gubmint outlawed diesels earlier than 1983 but by then most of those were already in junk yards. An ICE manufactured today would easily outlast a 2035 mandate.
 
landtuna said:
When David said 'prohibited' I think the actual word should have been 'not sold'. There would be street riots in CA if suddenly all ICE engines were not usable. We had a ten year warning here in AZ when the gubmint outlawed diesels earlier than 1983 but by then most of those were already in junk yards.
Click to expand...
Did that happen after I left?
 
fybush said:
There's a guy here in Rochester who has a Model T as his daily driver, even in the winter. I just saw him out in it on my morning walk.
Click to expand...
Wonder how many of those 50,000 'T's' are still original? They've been classics for the majority of the last century+ and were so simple they were easy to repair and maintain. They are very impractical though....especially in a place like Rochester (MN or NY).

My guess you could count the number of daily drivers on the fingers of one hand.
 
michael hagerty said:
Kelly, diesel semis are not passenger vehicles, and California's law is regarding sales of new vehicles within the state, not vehicles from elsewhere driving in or through.
Click to expand...
Exactly, that was my original point. GM and other automakers have committed to abide by the 2035 deadline for not selling passenger cars and SUV's powered by gas or diesel. 3/4, 1-ton and commercial trucks and semis will still be burning good ol' fossil fuels.
 
Kelly A said:
Exactly, that was my original point. GM and other automakers have committed to abide by the 2035 deadline for not selling passenger cars and SUV's powered by gas or diesel. 3/4, 1-ton and commercial trucks and semis will still be burning good ol' fossil fuels.
Click to expand...
As will any ICE passenger vehicles sold before the deadline. The point is that gradually, over the next 13 years, fewer vehicles will be. And after that, fewer still.
 
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