New base-model Teslas have no radio

[Dorbiman]

"extension speakers" that I'm not seeing where they appear when selected

They appear in the bed, right by the rear window. I believe they're used in the SUV config for satellite speakers, but I think they'd be sweet for camping/tailgating, etc

 

[AZFox]

I think 2-way speakers in the door with the mid/bass drivers down low and the tweeters in up high near the A-Pillars would work well, or at least adequately.

For music lovers a powered subwoofer is almost mandatory IMHO.

The eyes in the room are all lookin' at the star​

The butts are all shakin' to the bass guitar​

-- Todd Snyder​

It'll be fun to see what audio solutions people come up with.

 

[enigma9o7]

I think once a driver starts streaming music or other audio in their car, as long as data use isn't an issue, nearly all never go back

Not me. I have tried various streaming services and use them sometimes, Pandora is great. I've tried several apps that stream FM radio, like I Heart Radio and Audacy, and for listening to out of area radio stations, they are useful. But for local stations, they are nowhere near as good as an antenna. Besides the hassle of having to connect phone, they are delayed from live, which can affect contests/news/etc. They add additional advertisements, sometimes played when you first switch to the station, and sometimes played over songs or the broadcast ads, and sometimes in foriegn languages. Switching between stations is not like antenna where you can jump around quickly and easily by selecting presets with a single button, and when you do, you often get a new advertisement, go back to the station you were listening to before, another ad before you can switch, etc. And if you're using bluetooth instead of a wire, that can flake out when you pass somewhere with strong interference. And the whole thing can just pause sometimes and go silent when you go thru areas with poor cell reception (instead of just getting a bit fuzzy when FM has poor reception and then I switch to another station quickly and easily).

Streaming internet radio is not an acceptable replacement for broadcast radio in a car for me, that's for sure. But something I like having as well, but if it were one or the other, FM+antenna wins by a longshot, and doesn't stop me from streaming if I want to, as most head units today ofter bluetooth and/or line/aux input so I could use my phone to stream if I want to go to the effort. But for a quick drive to the store, not worth the hassle messing with phone, that's for sure.

 

[enigma9o7]

how often do you listen to AM/FM radio when you're NOT in the car?

I still use a clock radio alarm clock. So almost every morning I've never understood people who want to wake to buzzers/beepers. If there are modern smartclockstreamigdevice that require connecting to wifi and will play streaming audio, I'm glad I'm not aware of them

 

[YDR37]

I still use a clock radio alarm clock. So almost every morning I've never understood people who want to wake to buzzers/beepers. If there are modern smartclockstreamigdevice that require connecting to wifi and will play streaming audio, I'm glad I'm not aware of them

To be honest, I still use a traditional clock radio too. So I do listen to FM radio outside my car - but typically just for 2 or 3 minutes a day, which is the time I need to gain consciousness, get out of the bed, and shut off the radio. The maximum limit is 5 minutes, because at that point the radio does start beeping aggressively. And I typically turn off the alarm on weekends.

So my point stands -- most of my AM/FM radio usage is in the car. A couple minutes of FM radio time on weekday mornings doesn't change that.

 

[bloo]

The back-road I take to work has terrible mobile coverage. The low-power college radio station I often listen to comes in clear as a bell - and doesn't use up my data plan.

Not everyone lives in the city.

 

[YDR37]

Well, Tesla (and other EV companies) will have to find a way to make AM work if the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" passes, which seems likely.

Update: Neither the House nor the Senate has voted on the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" yet. The Act has bipartisan support and the President has indicated that he will sign it if it reaches his desk.

But even if the Act doesn't become law this year, it's possible that some state and local governments might take action. For example, the New York City Council is now considering a bill for "Requiring AM broadcast receivers in vehicles of the city fleet and city-contracted vehicles." The bill is being pushed by Frank Morano, a Republican councilman from Staten Island who used to have a syndicated AM radio show.

 

[KevinRS]

Update: Neither the House nor the Senate has voted on the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" yet. The Act has bipartisan support and the President has indicated that he will sign it if it reaches his desk.

But even if the Act doesn't become law this year, it's possible that some state and local governments might take action. For example, the New York City Council is now considering a bill for "Requiring AM broadcast receivers in vehicles of the city fleet and city-contracted vehicles." The bill is being pushed by Frank Morano, a Republican councilman from Staten Island who used to have a syndicated AM radio show.

That is the thing with many of these acts, they never make it to the floor for a vote, even with broad support.

 

[YDR37]

That is the thing with many of these acts, they never make it to the floor for a vote, even with broad support.

Yup, that is true. In fact, this happened to the Act in 2024; it never got voted on, despite bipartisan support. So the Act had to be reintroduced in 2025. And then there was the government shutdown, so everything went on hold.

Maybe the Act gets voted on this year, or maybe not. If not, maybe it gets reintroduced in 2026 and the process starts yet again.

 

[Imhotep]

I still use a clock radio alarm clock. So almost every morning I've never understood people who want to wake to buzzers/beepers. If there are modern smartclockstreamigdevice that require connecting to wifi and will play streaming audio, I'm glad I'm not aware of them

Been waking up to this clock radio for over 4 decades.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Been waking up to this clock radio for over 4 decades.

That’s awesome. Ground Hog Day - “I got you, Babe…”

 

[bartflossom]

Back in high school I was jealous of my friend's "faux" digital GE alarm/radio. It had the flip numbers like a rolodex. God do I sound like a boomer.

 

[Daemoch]

Ok, so they remove the radio - which I don't have a problem with as I seldom run sound of ANY kind in the car - but they still have all the wifi/BT/smartphone junk. Makes zero sense. Get rid of that nonsense and give me a radio or at least a DIN slot. But Tesla is Tesla, they'll never move away from the technology overload model.

The "wifi/BT/Smartphone junk" is a couple small circuits and an optional controller built into the steering wheel, with a seperate optional speaker selection, not a few yards of copper wires at minimum and a whole assembly with buildout at worse.

Even if they just put in a DIN slot, some people dont need that. And anything they put in there people like me will just have to remove to put what we DO want in its place. Don't make me pay for your stereo and I wont make you pay for mine. Trust me, you're getting the better end of the deal by a freakin mile.

 

[enigma9o7]

Presumably they wouldn't ship it with an empty DIN slot, if they werent including a radio they would likely put a compartment there people could use for storage. Same kinda thing you do when putting a single din radio in a double din slot, etc.

 

[Daemoch]

Presumably they wouldn't ship it with an empty DIN slot, if they werent including a radio they would likely put a compartment there people could use for storage. Same kinda thing you do when putting a single din radio in a double din slot, etc.

In the videos its one looooong open space behind the 'dash' panels