This old tech could cost automakers BILLIONS

10 to 15 years ago I bought a cigarette lighter cell phone charger at a local battery store. When I used it in my car, I found it created interference, a high-pitched whine, in my AM radio. When I went back to the store and complained, the owner's comment was, "Who even listens to AM radio anymore?" Well, obviously I do.

EVs shouldn’t be allowed to freely generate massive interference. This is already law.

So, AM should've been possible from the outset of EVs but regulators didn't crack down on them? Why should the customer have to pay a cent to fix an issue that's been known for years and is only now being enforced?

Back in the 1970s I used to monitor an IBM mainframe computer by listening to it's "broadcast" from the floor above it with an AM radio. When it went quiet the program I was running had finished (convenient remote monitoring)

As a HAM radio operator myself, I believe we should absolutely protect and use the AM bands. I agree it’s critical for emergency communications. However, we should not be spending public money on this. It should be on the manufacturers to be compliant with existing regulations that stipulate they cannot interfere with licensed frequencies. Like anything else, if it’s not compliant with the laws then it shouldn’t be permitted for sale.

My EV, (Hyundai Ionic 2019) has an AM radio (in addition to FM / DAB+), and it has the best AM reception I have heard in a long time, both stationary and when driving. Absolutely no interference issues at all.

I haven't attempted to listen to AM radio in my house, but when I tried to setup antennas in my attic, VHF kept driving me nuts climbing in and out of the attic readjusting, until I was just about fed up with working on it, and shutoff the 100W equivalent LEDs in my garage then miraculously it started working, the amount of electrical interference switch mode supplies are allowed to emit now is absolutely ridiculous how widespread this problem is and the FCC does nothing about it.

That seems like a great father-son relationship by the way. I also like that Dad Geerling still keeps multiple pens in his pocket.

What I miss the most from AM radio is when I'm driving along a highway in WA and come across a sign which says "when the lights are flashing tune to AM 1610 for important information about conditions ahead.

My “Analog and Digital Communication” professor said the difference between a analog and digital engineer. Is that the analog will build a transmitter on purpose.

FCC & CE regulation require compliance. What happened to the EV designers when they had that course?

There is a good video on the Autoline Daily channel where they interviewed an Electrical Engineer and she said that if they would just add some cheap shielding in the motors the AM radio would work no problem but it's because Mechanical Engineers and Electrical Engineers today aren't learning about shielding. Check it out on that channel.

I've been an AM radio listener all my life. When weather warnings occur, I hear them first on AM radio (WBBM or WGN in my area), a few minutes later on my weather radio and much later, I get the alert on my cellphone.

I am firm believer or keeping AM radio in cars. With that said, there is another problem - syndicated radio stations that have no local announcers. Is the early 2000's I was driving from Boston to Northern NJ while a snow storm with predicted amounts of 9"~12" was bearing down on the area. NOT A SINGLE LOCAL AM OR FM STATION was broadcasting weather reports. Only Boston, and NYC stations were sending alerts however they were not providing information about the direction the storm was taking. I had about a half dozen routes to chose from, but no up-tp-date information that suggested the safest route to take. These syndicated radion stations (I'm not mentioning names) are useless for import5ant local news.

My Ioniq 5 has AM and works fine.

Hi guys! Ham radio operator here! When it comes to emergency communications, low tech rules! AM covers more area than FM could dream of. Cell phones, as y'all point out are the first to go down... something we FINALLY got our law enforcement partners to understand. That was painful! We were doing drills where we were to shadow officers for comms and they didn't want us because they had their cell phone, not understanding that in a real emergency it's not likely to work at all. After a few real events where the system got saturated they finally got it. I also liked your points about interference! You were right on point that manufacturers have been infringing. As hams, we're not allowed to interfere with anyone else, but everyone else can interfere with us. Solar is also a big interference origin point, as well as plasma TV's. Finding that stuff and fixing it is kind of an art form! Love your show!

People calling AM "pointless" definitely don't realize how vital it is in rural areas. I live deep in the Appalachian mountains and AM is the only reliable broadcast option due to its range. Forget getting TV reception via antenna here, nearly impossible.

I don't know anything about AM radio. However remember during hurricane Katrina and for about a week after the only way we could get any information was AM radio. We had no power and all the cell towers were deployed. A couple weeks after they used little blimps as cell towers, which I thought was pretty cool

I'm not about to pick a fight with the statisticians at the CTA (notoriously tough eggs that they are), but I'm having a hard time believing that you can extrapolate data representative of 258 million US adults, from a survey of 800 of them.

Good info and presentation. As someone who has managed EMC test facilities, run hundreds of tests and spent many days dealing with FCC and other regulatory national authorities, I suspect that EVs do pass all of the relevant FCC requirements (FCC equivalents of IEC, ISO, CISPR, etc. standards). The interference you are discussing may be covered by regulations but is not fully addressed by the testing required by the Code Of Federal Regulations (CFRs). Note that there are applicable radiated and conducted emission standards, but that are not currently included in the regulations for automotive products. What is proposed is to add these requirements to the requirements to the sections of the CFRs. What your discussion alludes to but does not clearly address is the effective broadcast range of AM vs the other communication systems. I have friends who live in areas where zero FM broadcasts can be received, cell reception is spotty at best and so rely of AM and NWS (also spotty at times) broadcasts for emergency and hazard warnings. Almost all of these people have AM / NWS radios install and on in the homes, vehicles and tractors. Also many of the detractors of these regulations are also affiliated with those who would just like to see AM die. Your testing with a an AM radio does demonstrate the problem, but the problem of growing EMC "clutter"and not just limited to AM bands. I have also observed interference with NWS frequency transmissions (162.4 - 162.55 MHz) and other bands caused by "conducted / power supply" noise when trying to install a transceiver in an EV. A problem seen by many Hams when installing radios in vehicles festooned with various computer modules often requiring additional filtering on the 12VDC and better "grounding or isolation" of the radio. Note: We are also dealing with similar problems with installations on boats, tractors, etc. For chasing EMI I carry a tinySA®Ultra and various antennas in my tool bag. Not as sensitive, fast or flexible as the portable HP spectrum analyzer I use to run but still provides adequate functionality, better than an AM/FM/NWT radio and fits in ones pocket.