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Global News
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- Global News
The future is being written for listening to the radio in cars
Listening to the radio in the car is almost as old as the automobile itself. The very first time anyone demonstrated the operation of the new-fangled wireless devices was at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis when American inventor Lee DeForest demonstrated his cutting-edge technology. It worked just fine, but since proper radio stations would not exist for at least another dozen years, this was really just a proof-of-concept thing that was over most people's heads. By 1922, commercial radio was starting to catch on, and several inventors were keen to install receivers in cars. An amateur named George Frost showed off a radio that he MacGyvered in a Ford Model T. Others followed: the Airtone 3D in 1925 and the Philco Transitone of 1927. Nice, but impractical. They were very bulky, ran on very fragile vacuum tubes and were very expensive. A Transitone cost $150 (about $2,300 in today's money) when you could buy a whole car for under $700. Electrical interference from the car's ignition system was also a major problem. Story continues below advertisement The big breakthrough came in 1930 when the owner of a radio supply business, William R. Lear (yes, the Learjet guy and the first promoter of the 8-track player) worked with Elmer Wavering (one of his employees and the inventor of the car alternator) met up with Paul and Joseph Galvin, owners of an electronics manufacturer. Together, they built a radio for Paul's Studebaker. It was big and bulky – all the controls were mounted on the steering column – but it worked and sounded good. Galvin then drove it to a radio manufacturers convention in Chicago, parked it outside, cranked it up, and the orders flooded in for his 'Motorola.' (Yes, the same people who are now in the mobile phone business.) It was still expensive – $110 — but it was the first useful and practical car radio. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy As the technology improved — solid state circuits replaced vacuum tubes in the 1950s, the introduction of in-dash FM radios in 1952 — it was unimaginable for any vehicle to be without a radio for entertainment, news, companionship and keeping one awake on long, late-night drives. It's free, it's local and when done right, it feels like the person on the other side of the speaker is riding along with you. Even today, about 80 per cent of in-car listening is radio. Today, infotainment systems are deeply integrated into automobile systems and offer all kinds of listening options and connectivity. Radio is still there, but it has to compete against many other options and functions. Story continues below advertisement When I travel, I like to rent vehicles from different manufacturers to see what they're doing infotainment-wise. On more than one occasion, I've become frustrated when it comes to finding the radio functions. Why would anyone bury a radio, something that's been part of the driving experience for almost 100 years, so deep in the interface that you can't use it? The good news is that there's plenty of pushback. At the WorldDAB Automotive 2025 Conference in Madrid, public and private broadcasters — some 200 senior executives — from all over the world got together to deliver this message: Broadcast radio must remain prominent in vehicles. If not, motorists will miss out on a lot — and radio itself could fatally suffer from underexposure. While AM radio is under siege — it looks like it will take an act of Congress to keep it alive in cars (Spoiler: AM radio is still necessary) — FM radio is still going strong. Other countries have adopted DAB (digital audio broadcasting) radios — a format shunned by the U.S., killing its chances in North America — which also have large audiences. Norway, Switzerland and a few other nations either have dumped FM radio entirely or are in the process of going all-in with DAB. Then, of course, there's satellite radio. Although pretty much just a North American thing, it has tens of millions of listeners. Here's a comment from Edita Kudláčová, head of radio for the European Broadcasting Union: 'Radio has always been there for us in our cars, a much loved and greatly trusted companion. I can't imagine what could fill the gap if it were ever to disappear from the dashboard. We must continue to innovate – together! – to ensure that radio distribution is fit for our increasingly connected world.' Story continues below advertisement And then there's this from Stefan Möller, president of the Association of European Radios: 'We need to work together as an industry and collaborate with the car industry to maintain radio in the car; this is also important from a safety point of view.' These broadcasters, including the BBC, Radio France, NRJ (France), Global (U.K.), Bauer (U.K.), RTL (Luxembourg), Radio Hamburg (Germany), and Australia's Commercial Radio and Audio as well as the country's RCA Engineering group, are behind a new international initiative called Radio Ready that will see radio stay in cars even as vehicles become more connected. There are three pillars: 1) Radio must remain prominent and convenient with the dashboard, 2) radio-related apps must be easy to find, and 3) voice assistants must be able to offer access to radio content. Anything less risks making traditional broadcast radio too hard to find and use. The more international pressure is placed on manufacturers (as well as software suppliers such as Canada's QNX as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), the more radio will be protected within infotainment systems. Other broadcasters are invited to join the movement. This is from Tobias Nielsen from Britain's Bauer Media Group: 'It is essential for democracy and public safety in times of emergency, as well as the cultural value that radio offers, that it remains accessible, prominent, and easily discoverable in connected cars in the future.' No argument from me. And let me add in one more thing: Broadcast radio is free. No subscription required. As entertainment media goes, it's about as frictionless as it gets. Story continues below advertisement Let's hope this turns into a worldwide movement.
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Bezos-backed company promises to build America's cheapest car… but it cuts some corners
A new automaker is aiming to disrupt the American truck market with ultra-low pricing... but get ready for a vehicle missing the latest creature comforts. Slate, a startup with billionaire backing, plans to build America's most affordable pickup truck with a $25,000 starting price. If federal $7,500 EV incentives remain in place, the Slate could become the only car in the US market under $20,000. To keep costs low, the company tells they've axed standard tech found in most cars — and returned to some automotive basics. Slate's pickup features crank windows, physical buttons and dials, and no speakers or digital screens on base models. Instead, it has a phone holder and charging point next to the steering wheel. All trucks come in a single gray metal finish, reminiscent of the Ford Model T. Drivers can customize the truck with manufacturer-supplied wraps to cover the grey exoskeleton. The company's vision is to offer an alternative for Americans fed up with sky-high prices and screen-saturated driving experiences. 'The definition of what's affordable is broken,' the company's CEO, Chris Barman, said. 'Slate exists to put the power back in the hands of customers who have been ignored by the auto industry.' The company's trucks will use either a 52.7-kWh or 84.3-kWh battery pack, giving the truck an estimated ranges of 150 or 240 miles. It'll also come with a NACS port, meaning it can plug into Tesla's Supercharger network — the widest EV charging web in the country. Base models include two front seats and a pickup bed. For more space, drivers can opt for a three-seat bench in the rear and add an SUV-style cap — available in either fastback, wagon, or Jeep-like rollbar form. But it'll be half the price of other open-air SUVs: the Bronco starts at $38,000, the Jeep Wrangler starts at $32,000, and the GMC Hummer starts at $96,000. The average price of a new car in the US now hovers around $48,000 — up nearly $11,000 since 2018. That's a 23 percent spike in just six years. Part of the reason for this price spike: low-cost cars are quickly fading from the US market. The EV is built with fewer panels than most other cars on the US market Drivers can also opt for the sport-back SUV top For example, the Nissan Versa is the only car with a sub-$20,000 base price. It's been discontinued for 2026, and will soon become more expensive. The Versa is built in Mexico and remains largely susceptible to the 25 percent tariffs slapped on auto imports by President Donald Trump. Slate thinks its well positioned to take advantage of the lack of products at the bottom of the market. The car's US production helps dodge percent tariff, giving the company more cost-cutting flexibility. But there is one tariff soft spot for the car. It's still an electric vehicle, which relies on rare earth materials for its batteries — a supply chain that remains largely dependent on imports. Still, Slate's entry into the market is supported by deep-pocketed backers. Drivers can also opt for a rear-mounted spare tire kit Backed by Jeff Bezos, LA Dodgers owner Mark Walter, and Guggenheim CEO Thomas Tull, the company quietly banked $111 million in 2023. Its rare for a startup car company to survive in the US. Before Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, no American auto startup had achieved prolongued success since Chrysler, which began production in 1925. Deep-pocketed automakers have attempted to make similar, customizable vehicle platforms in the US market. Toyota launched Scion in 2003 and GM built Saturn in 1985. Both low-cost, easily customizable car brands are now defunct. But Slate thinks these types of cars are perfect to meet the high-priced moment in the automotive industry. Sources inside the company also tell that they believe small businesses will scoop up their no-frills cars. Slate's wild debut Slate revealed its SUVs in Los Angeles with a wild marketing blitz Reddit gearheads spotted the cars wrapped in advertisements from fake companies Slate's trucks have already been spotted in the wild. Hawk-eyed internet users have been able to piece together some of the details about the car's release. Reddit sleuths traced a mysterious flatbed hauler to Slate, and can confirm they're authenticity. Others clocked it parked in LA with fake business decals — one, a fictional 'Rare and Raw Catering Company,' came complete with roof-mounted coolers, supposedly labeled with puma and a goblin shark meat.
