Zac Quinn 
It wasn’t long ago that it was revealed that Ford had plans to remove the AM Radio from the S650 Ford Mustang. AM is the oldest form of radio, though there are still stations that use it specifically for emergency alert systems. That said, Ford hasn’t been putting AM radio into its newer cars, including the EVs but has decided to reverse course and keep the feature. That means if you own a vehicle that doesn’t have AM radio from Ford, a software update will be released to add it.
Ford AM Radio Delete Met With Political Fervor
Ford CEO Jim Farley recently posted to social media that Ford would include an AM radio on all of its 2024 model year vehicles and provide a software update to add it back to cars it’s shipped that already have the AM radio deleted. That includes the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. Since the 2024 Ford Mustang hasn’t started production yet, it’s not something any waiting customers have to worry about.
This change comes just days after a bipartisan bill was introduced to U.S. lawmakers that would bar automakers from eliminating AM radio in their new cars. Lawmakers have stated that at least eight automakers have removed AM from their vehicles, and as of right now, Ford is the only one to declare its course reversal.
The 2024 Ford Mustang was set to be the first internal combustion Ford model to drop AM radio, but that will no longer be the case. Lawmakers state that removing AM radio undermines the federal government’s system for providing public safety information to the country. Accessing public safety alerts or being informed during a crisis while on the road is a key argument for this legislation, while opponents say it’s unnecessary due to the various other forms of information dissemination. Most people don’t tune into AM radio for information regarding emergencies; most of the time, emergency broadcasts are sent directly to people’s phones which are used much more than the radio.
After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we’ve decided to include it on all 2024 @Ford & @LincolnMotorCo vehicles. For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software…
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) May 23, 2023
