Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
A push for cars to have AM radios could force companies to redesign their EVs, Jael writes.
Why it matters: Innovation is critical to decarbonization. As Big Tech faces Congress' anger, the pace of the energy transition will be affected.
Driving the news: Senate Commerce is considering the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act on Thursday as part of a slate of tech regulation bills.
- The AM radio bill, authored by Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz, would make the Transportation Department and FCC issue a rule to require all vehicles to have devices that "can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM broadcast stations."
- It's got bipartisan backing, including Green New Deal supporter Ed Markey and New Jersey's Josh Gottheimer in the House.
- "AM radio is still a vital source of information, and we need to make sure they keep that technology there as the emergency warning system,” Markey told Jael last week.
Yes, but: Companies including Tesla, Mazda and Rivian have designed recent EV models without AM radios. They have told lawmakers they did this because the receivers pick up electromagnetic noise from other things, including the drivetrain.
- Auto industry reps are blowing a fuse over the bill. Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella has called it "a bipartisan solution searching for a problem."
- Al Gore III of the EV trade group ZETA told Jael the bill would be "forcing" manufacturers to redesign cars to fit AM devices.
The other side: Lawmakers like Markey are skeptical of the car company griping because some manufacturers like Ford claim there are workarounds.
- “My message to Tesla is, you’ve done a good job at inventing all-electric vehicles," Markey told Jael. "All we’re asking is you apply that great technological genius to a technology that is 100 years old. Figure out a way to accommodate it."
Between the lines: Cruz, Markey and others are largely responding to concerns over public safety. Cruz has also claimed the removal of AM radios is a bid to stifle right-wing thought.
The bottom line: The AM radio bill's momentum shows how the pace of an unplanned energy transition could be undermined by its imperfections.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to remove Lucid from the list of companies designing EV models without AM radios.
