New base-model Teslas have no radio

[KevinRS]

But data use is always a consideration. Radio reception is free; cellular data isn't. If streaming means that you need to pay extra each month for an unlimited data plan on your phone, or if you need to pay a monthly bill for vehicle connectivity, those costs are real.
True, but conversely, radio commonly works in areas that have no cell reception.

Increasingly people are already on unlimited plans.
A few months ago I switched mine from $20 plus 10 per GB to:
unlimited for $35 throttled after 30 GB,
because I was going over the 1.5 GB that made it make sense.
Areas that have no cell reception... not a whole lot of those. I know when we went camping at kings canyon NP reception was non-existent in areas, and sure there are sections in the middle of the country and in the desert that have those issues, but this isn't a cross country road trip truck.

 

[KevinRS]

But note that Tesla is only removing the FM radio in the new low-priced "Standard" trim, as per the original post. The higher-priced "Premium" and "Performance" trims keep the FM radio, for both the Model 3 and Model Y.

They may instead be looking at their likely buyers. If their research shows the lower cost models will appeal mostly to younger buyers, those are the ones more likely to never even use the FM radio.

About that bill to require AM radio, has there been any action on it at all in recent months? Last I looked it up it went to committee early in the year, and nothing more was reported. There are plenty of bills that appear to have support, and go nowhere. In fact this isn't the first time around for an AM radio requirement bill.
For emergency alerts, the later it gets the more irrelevant radio is for alerts, because you can get alerts on your cell phone, that are more timely, customized geographically, and don't depend on you having the radio turned on.

 

[YDR37]

this isn't a cross country road trip truck.

Probably not, but this thread is actually about the elimination of radios in certain trims of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 (check the title). The Y and the 3 are easily the best-selling electric vehicles in the country, and have been for years. Surely some people take road trips in Ys and 3s,

I personally would want a radio in my car, but if other people prefer streaming and don't see the need, that's fine by me. The original point of the thread was simply to say: "Hey, a lot of people thought that Slate was crazy to offer an EV without a built-in radio, but now Tesla is doing it too".

 

[YDR37]

About that bill to require AM radio, has there been any action on it at all in recent months? Last I looked it up it went to committee early in the year, and nothing more was reported. There are plenty of bills that appear to have support, and go nowhere. In fact this isn't the first time around for an AM radio requirement bill.

The bill was still advancing through the House last month. And it has an almost unbelievable degree of support:

The markup came amid a surge of bipartisan support for the legislation. The bill has 299 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and 61 in the U.S. Senate — a filibuster-proof majority. Of the more than 6,000 bills introduced this Congress, only two bills have more cosponsors: one supporting veterans with disabilities and another commemorating the Miracle on Ice team. The AM radio bill ranks third overall.

New national polling further underscores this momentum. In a recent survey, 83% of respondents said they strongly support keeping AM radio in new cars ...

To be honest, I would not have guessed that "AM radio in cars" had political favorability ratings comparable to "veterans with disabilities" or "the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team". But apparently that is the case. Nothing in politics is guaranteed, but of the 6,000+ bills in Congress, those three seem like good bets to become law.

 

[KevinRS]

So it looks like it made it out of committee There seems to be a good deal of marketing in the language used there, about AM radio being a lifeline etc. I think if you did a poll of drivers, you'd find those that had even turned their radios to AM in the last several years would be in the minority.
I'm having some trouble finding the poll that is quoted.

 

[YDR37]

So it looks like it made it out of committee There seems to be a good deal of marketing in the language used there, about AM radio being a lifeline etc. I think if you did a poll of drivers, you'd find those that had even turned their radios to AM in the last several years would be in the minority.
I'm having some trouble finding the poll that is quoted.

The link is to a National Association of Broadcasters press release. The NAB -- which includes owners of radio stations -- is strongly biased in favor of the bill, so that's where the marketing language comes from. Would suspect that the poll is one that NAB paid for, and it may not be completely unbiased either.

However, the points about congressional support for the bill appear to be accurate. You can see the huge list of House cosponsors on the official congressional website here. In fact, the number of cosponsors has apparently risen to 306, which is up from the 299 cited by NAB. Since there are only 435 House members, there's a better-than-even chance that your own Congressman is a co-sponsor. Mine is.

 

[KevinRS]

The link is to a National Association of Broadcasters press release. The NAB -- which includes owners of radio stations -- is strongly biased in favor of the bill, so that's where the marketing language comes from. Would suspect that the poll is one that NAB paid for, and it may not be completely unbiased either.

However, the points about congressional support for the bill appear to be accurate. You can see the huge list of House cosponsors on the official congressional website here. In fact, the number of cosponsors has apparently risen to 306, which is up from the 299 cited by NAB. Since there are only 435 House members, there's a better-than-even chance that your own Congressman is a co-sponsor. Mine is.

Yeah, main thing that points to to me is that no one is campaigning/lobbying against it. That poll is likely a poll of radio listeners, and who knows how big of a poll it even is. A better solution if it's really about getting info after a hurricane or something is probably a portable radio, with a bunch of long shelf life batteries. That kind of anecdotal post disaster use seems to be the example given in support of it.

 

[YDR37]

Yeah, main thing that points to to me is that no one is campaigning/lobbying against it.

The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), an EV trade group that includes Tesla, Rivian,
Lucid, and Waymo among others, is totally campaigning against it. They just don't seem to be winning.

 

[KevinRS]

The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), an EV trade group that includes Tesla, Rivian,
Lucid, and Waymo among others, is totally campaigning against it. They just don't seem to be winning.

They probably are being outspent by an order of magnitude by the broadcasters. That potentially suspect poll has probably been quoted to most of congress, and has been posted about on many radio station and similar sites. Searching for info about the poll, all you get is posts quoting from the NAB release.
What you want in a real disaster isn't a car radio, but a portable radio, with it's own power source. If nothing else, put an emergency kit in each car, with first aid items and a portable radio.

 

[Mac-Tyson]

Do they have integrated speakers? That's the much larger issue.
Radios are relatively moot, a topic that has been beat to death here. No speakers is a much larger jump.

I really don’t think Slate intends that majority of people won’t choose any speakers they are just giving people a choice between a Bluetooth speaker mount for a BYO Speaker option or their premium speakers. Honestly I prefer that over the alternative of integrating them but having really bad cheap speakers in each vehicle.

 

[cadblu]

I think the whole radio thing represents a huge opportunity for Slate’s engineering team (or better yet, aftermarket) to really show off their ingenuity. Make the install process painless. Like designing Lego style plug and play speakers which slide and snap into place in the dash (no tools), with built in wire connectors. Same for the head unit with power, speaker, and antenna connections already in place. Offer both standard and high performance options. That way, if you’re not satisfied you can upgrade to higher performance components as a DIY at any time.

 

[Daemoch]

I think the whole radio thing represents a huge opportunity for Slate’s engineering team (or better yet, aftermarket) to really show off their ingenuity. Make the install process painless. Like designing Lego style plug and play speakers which slide and snap into place in the dash (no tools), with built in wire connectors. Same for the head unit with power, speaker, and antenna connections already in place. Offer both standard and high performance options. That way, if you’re not satisfied you can upgrade to higher performance components as a DIY at any time.

see? this is the kind of approach we need to be asking for.

Ive no interest in any stereo options they may have, may include, or dont bother with. Anything they give me will be ripped out. Why? Because Ive been installing my own gear for literal DECADES now. Hell, I'm installing a small system into a buddies car this weekend: 4 speakers, a head unit, one sub, 2 amps and a cap. All stuff this guy decided he wanted sized and spec'd as he wanted from the brands he wanted (don't ask me my opinion on his choices lol!). All I'm asking Slate to do is make allowances for stuff like this.

For the record, I use AM and FM a lot. In case anyone is keeping count.

 

[cadblu]

So we’ve been led to believe, you can wrap your Slate in a couple of hours. You can install the SUV kit in an afternoon in your garage.

How about a complete audio installation or upgrade in less than one hour? Makes sense?

 

[Daemoch]

Ive done head unit installs over lunch. And that was from factory to aftermarket on cars NOT designed to make it easy. So if they make it DESIGNED to be done... I'd be willing to say it could be possible?
Honestly depends more on how the wiring point A to B is setup. Thats where the time sink is - running all those damn signal wires under floor carpets and in dashes and rear decks and other stuff. Plus hooking up the battery feeds through the fire wall to the amps, but not near the signal wires (can cause interference). A few cars make accessing speakers a lot of fun too. but consistently the time gets burned just running wire.

 

[KevinRS]

Most vehicles now have speakers in the doors. Slate doesn't have those, and there may be no space for them.
On the maker there is a center speaker and a pair of side speakers all in the dash, "extension speakers" that I'm not seeing where they appear when selected, that can be removed and used as portable bluetooth speakers. There is also the under dash bracket for your own speaker, or the "front speaker" in the same space. All of these can be selected simultaneously, theoretically for a "surround system", but we'll probably have to see if that stays once they test it, different wireless speakers may have issues with playing together and not being perfectly in sync.
There will probably be lots of aftermarket options, it seems like there may be some space behind the seats if someone wanted a subwoofer there.