As automakers remove broadcast tuners and steer drivers towards streaming, China is drawing up a national standard to preserve radio reception when mobile networks fail.
A growing number of Chinese motorists are discovering that the “radio” button in a modern car is not always tied to a real broadcast tuner. In some vehicles, reception depends on an internet service rather than a conventional FM or AM receiver, which means the function can disappear as soon as the data connection is lost. That distinction matters, because a feature that looks like radio on the screen may in fact be a streaming app wearing a radio label.
The issue has become more visible as automakers trim hardware to cut costs. In China, an owner of a Geely Xingyue L complained that a software update removed local radio reception from the vehicle interface and pushed listening towards an online service, which could not work without data. Tesla has also moved in this direction: according to reporting on the company’s lower-priced Model 3 and Model Y variants, some versions no longer include FM or AM tuners, leaving internet streaming and Bluetooth as the main alternatives for in-car audio.
That shift is not only about software design. Industry and regulatory discussions point to the cost of fitting a proper vehicle radio module, together with the extra engineering needed to deal with electromagnetic interference from the car itself. In a price-competitive market, deleting the hardware can save money across large production runs. The drawback is that it removes an independent channel for information, particularly when mobile networks are weak or unavailable.
Chinese regulators are now treating that resilience as a public-policy issue. The National Radio and Television Administration said in 2024 that broadcast radio has public-service and emergency value, noting that FM transmitters can reach more than 100 kilometres, while medium-wave signals can travel further still. By contrast, mobile networks depend on base stations that may fail in the same disaster affecting motorists. A mandatory national standard for on-board radio reception was formally listed in April 2025, with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the proposing body and a 22-month timetable for the project.
The debate is not limited to China. In the United States, the House of Representatives moved in September 2026 on the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, with supporters arguing that broadcast radio remains important for local news, weather and emergency alerts when power or mobile service is disrupted. Edison Research has also found that AM/FM still accounts for a large share of in-car listening in the US, even in vehicles equipped with modern connectivity systems. For drivers, the practical test remains simple: if the car loses network access and the radio goes silent, the “radio” was never really a radio at all.
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