Medium Wave Hello

Two and a half years ago, I posted about how discussions were taking place to make it compulsory to have am band radios in cars in the US.

Well it looks like it's coming closer.

"The bill would require automakers to put AM radios in every car made or sold in the United States."

It doesn't use the word install though.

So my suggestion in 2024 of buying a cheap one and putting it in the glove box should do the trick.  Modern ones (if there is such a thing as a modern am radio) can be powered from a USB-C cable.

It does use the word made though.  So every car built in the States has to have an am radio!?

What will the rest of the World make of that?  My car was built in The States.

AM won't be a very useful feature where I live:

Due to the mass shutdown of the UK's analogue transmitters over recent years, the AM (Medium Wave) radio spectrum is heavily reduced. Local favorites like BBC Radio Merseyside (1485 AM) and Radio City / Greatest Hits Radio (1548 AM) have permanently turned off their AM signals.

However, you can still tune into a few national and ultra-local stations on the Wirral:

📻 Active AM Stations on the Wirral

talkSPORT (1089 kHz or 1107 kHz AM): Strong reception across the peninsula. talkSPORT actually operates a dedicated local low-power transmitter in Wallasey on 1107 AM, while the high-powered 1089 AM signal comes across from the Moorside Edge transmitter.
BBC Radio 5 Live (693 kHz or 909 kHz AM): The main national home for live news and sports can still be picked up clearly across the North West.
Radio Clatterbridge (1386 kHz AM): A true local gem. Based at the Clatterbridge Health Park in Bebington, it is one of the oldest hospital community radio stations in the world. While its low-power AM signal is meant for the health park, it can often be picked up in the surrounding mid-Wirral areas.

Thank you Google AI for that summary.

I wonder what next will they want installing in our cars?

Let me just float that by you...

What happens if you live in a flood plain and want to keep your car safe?

Car+Driver have this idea from Japan.

So your parking space is a giant block of polystyrene.

Or, more precisely, a large, resin-coated slab of waterproof foam that floats up with the floodwater.

So, what's to stop it floating away?

Well, those shiny metal tubes are fixed to the ground and the large, resin-coated slab of waterproof foam has holes that accommodate them.

So what happens if the floodwater is so high that it clears the shiny, metal poles?

Then your car floats away.

Instruments of Torture

BMW haven't learned from Volkswagen's mistake.

They did learn from their own mistake though.

But it looks like Hyundai haven't learned from BMW's mistake.

They want to charge extra for an instrument binnacle!

An instrument binnacle that stops the car looking like the inside of a Tesla.

The cars it's slated for are the Ionic 3 and the Elantra.  The Elantra looks really good from the outside.

Shame it'll be ruined by the inside.

Meanwhile, Ford are charging Mustang Mach E buyers $495 to use their front boot.

But then people who are buying SUVs that are named after sporty cars will be gullible enough to pay up.

Carr Show?

I keep referring back to this post from 2018.

I was, and still am, upset by this choice of presenters for my beloved Top Gear.

So I was interested to learn, from none other than the BBC themselves, of the return of Top Gear.

Shame they don't seem to know who the new line-up will be.

The Sun seem to think one will be Jimmy Carr.

I like Jimmy Carr.

• He's very funny.
• He did very well in the Suzuki Liana.
• He got an electric Aston Martin DB6.

Although...

• He did a gig in Saudi Arabia and
• HE ISN'T A MOTORING PRESENTER 

Another name being touted is Joe Marler.

I like Joe Marler.

• He has a very dry but funny sense of humour.
• He makes a good air freshener

Although...

I'm a Welsh Rugby fan and

HE ISN'T A MOTORING PRESENTER 

 

If these are chosen, it doesn't bode well - especially as I am not aware of any Marler car connection.

There are some other candidates out there.

Generation Why?

Not the first time I've covered this story - here is my blogging from January last year.

Car+Driver have an update today.

Apparently it is young people's fault that the BMW Neue Klasse platform vehicles don't have any buttons.

NO IT ISN'T - IT'S BMW's FAULT!!

According to Vikram Pawah, CEO of BMW Group Australia, people under 45 prefer touchscreens.

MAYBE FOR THEIR PHONES!

I bet there aren't too many 44 year-olds who want them controlling everything in their cars.

Volkswagen found that out a couple of years back.  Here's my view.

And, even if it were true, young people are becoming less interested in driving. (That is an old article but anecdotally still seems right)

And if they are less interested in driving, they will be less interested in cars.  And that seems to be the nub of his argument.

“I think you need to understand why that change is happening, and once you understand that it’s easier to comprehend what will happen in the future as well. A car is not a stand-alone piece. It’s part of what’s happening around you in society.”

It's the same reason why cross-over SUVs are taking over - the car companies want profits and don't care about the enthusiasts.

At least the Car+Driver readers understand: