{"id":10989,"date":"2023-03-18T06:52:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T10:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/?p=10989"},"modified":"2023-03-18T06:54:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T10:54:57","slug":"am-radio-in-electric-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2023\/03\/am-radio-in-electric-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"AM radio in Electric Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have been reading with interest the ongoing discussion about AM radios in Electric Vehicles. Rather than rehash the what, I thought it would be nice to dig into why it is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first thought is that many of the electronics use PDM or PWM to control various stages of charging, converting, or discharging the storage system. I quick review of a typical EV basic diagram shows that there are several systems involved<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searching through various chip makers’ data sheets on Li-ion battery chargers, DC voltage to voltage converters, regenerative braking systems, traction motor inverters, and so on shows that all of those systems use PWM. Some of those PWM frequencies are right in the AM band, while others are not. That explains why different manufacturers have different takes on AM radios in EVs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Basic Electric Vehicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of those electrical components are controlled by an electronic system that handles battery charging, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This basic diagram shows several sections that rely on PWM to function. The traction inverter is very complicated, with sensors running to each motor and each wheel for traction control, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I imagine the average EV driving down the road in a cloud of PWM-based electrical noise. Whether or not that creates interference with AM reception depends solely on the PWM frequency the chip manufacturer chooses. That is not all, even when sitting in the garage charging, the Li-ion battery chargers use PWM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems a monumental task to attempt to mitigate the noise issue. The real question is; does the general public and more specifically, those who want to own an EV care about AM broadcasting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many alternative entertainment options these days. I would say the average Tesla driver listens to iTunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be interesting to test MA-3 reception in a Tesla. That would be a real-world test to see how the HD Radio codec stands up to electrical noise. I would say the same about DRM, but you would need to find a receiver first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been reading with interest the ongoing discussion about AM radios in Electric Vehicles. Rather than rehash the what, I thought it would be nice to dig into why it is happening. My first thought is that many of the electronics use PDM or PWM to control various stages of charging, converting, or discharging … Continue reading AM radio in Electric Vehicles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,37],"tags":[87,303],"class_list":["post-10989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-hd-radio","tag-am","tag-hd-radio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10989"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11018,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10989\/revisions\/11018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}