XM or AM?

[insaneoctane]

90% of my listening in my S every day is XM. I don't have good cell connectivity to work, so streaming cuts out for several minutes at a time, and I prefer to listen to talk radio and news vs my USB music on my commute.

It's kinda funny that I'm the opposite.
I've got XM factory installed in my current Nissan and whatever XM did about 1 to 1.5 years ago has seriously hampered my reception! I can't drive on 405N in Santa Monica without dropping stations in and out. My solution? Use the XM app on my phone and I don't drop all over the place anymore. Having said this, I'll admit using XM directly from my radio is far simpler than running it on my phone, but when it bugs me, I switch.

I suspect Telsa's decision to not include XM has less to do with mounting the antenna to the glass roof and more to do with their building an empire of future monthly revenue.....

 

[Country Roads]

Wow...had no idea about the lack of AM radio. That's a huge kick in the sack. I listen to sports talk radio or games pretty much 75% of the time in my car. This is a pretty massive disappointment for me that I can no longer listen to White Sox, Blackhawks, or Notre Dame games in my car, or listen to my daily sports talk radio.

I bet you could stream the stations over the internet. Worth checking, anyway

 

[PoitNarf]

There is no way M3 has XM since none of the other Tesla vehicles have had it.

As pointed out previously, the Model S with the sunroof does have SiriusXM available as an option if you choose the premium upgrades package. And I just checked on Tesla.com and saw that the Model X has it available as well with the premium upgrades package. So they have already sourced the necessary hardware before and have compatible software as well.

3. Tesla has to design their vehicle to accommodate the clunky XM antenna. There's a reason you see the "shark fin" or "bump" on the roofs of many newer cars, it is for routing of the XM (and cellular) antennas into the car.... tough to do on a Model 3 with its clean glass roof look.

There are windshield mount antennas available for SiriusXM. Take a look at this option available from Subaru:


I had a similar setup in my Mazda 6 years ago. Mine didn't come with sat radio installed so I went the external receiver route with that car. I didn't want a messy looking antenna install on the trunk of my car so I found a windshield mount antenna from Nissan and had my Sirius receiver working perfectly with it. There is no need to have a puck or shark fin mounted on the outside of the car. Given the size of the windshield enclosure for the AP cameras I wouldn't be surprised if there was enough room to squeeze the sat radio antenna in that enclosure as well. I suspect the GPS antenna is already located there anyway.

I'll have to figure out some solution when I get my Model 3, although I really dislike the idea of using an external receiver since it would ruin the whole clean look of the interior.

 

[electracity]

As pointed out previously, the Model S with the sunroof does have SiriusXM available as an option if you choose the premium upgrades package. And I just checked on Tesla.com and saw that the Model X has it available as well with the premium upgrades package. So they have already sourced the necessary hardware before and have compatible software as well.

You have ruined this thread.

 

[Scannerman]

So as far as I can tell we still don't have confirmation one way or the other if SiriusXM will be available in the Model 3. It'd be nice to get an official answer on this. I'm not a fan of installing one of those plug in SiriuxXM receivers. If my only option is to get it working using the SiriusXM app on my phone and streaming it from there, so be it. But it would be nice to have this factory integrated into the car.

If the reviews of the suspension, parallel those of the Model S, then the absence of Smart Air Suspensionm as an option would likely be a deal breaker. And the absence of XM, would almost rise to that level.

Scannerman

 

[djplong]

So let me get this straight. The car that's supposed to be 'like a spaceship' and be the BEST $35,000 car ever made will be lacking in an option that even the cheapest Chevy or Toyota has...

I've been an XM subscriber for 15 years. This *really* disappoints me.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

So let me get this straight. The car that's supposed to be 'like a spaceship' and be the BEST $35,000 car ever made will be lacking in an option that even the cheapest Chevy or Toyota has...

I've been an XM subscriber for 15 years. This *really* disappoints me.

Elon is just making sure that new owners get the full Tesla experience! ; )

 

[TexasEV]

So let me get this straight. The car that's supposed to be 'like a spaceship' and be the BEST $35,000 car ever made will be lacking in an option that even the cheapest Chevy or Toyota has...

I've been an XM subscriber for 15 years. This *really* disappoints me.

It doesn't have an 8 track or cassette or CD player either. Don't knock Slacker and Tune-in unless you've tried it. If there is some music you want that you can't find that way (unlikely) then you can put hundreds of hours on a tiny USB key. Really the things some people complain about!

 

[Lysol]

I don't know any person below the age of 30 that has ever even heard/listened to anything on AM radio nor satellite radio. The current generation isn't about that... Get with the times.....

 

[Sportstick]

I don't know any person below the age of 30 that has ever even heard/listened to anything on AM radio nor satellite radio. The current generation isn't about that... Get with the times.....

In 2016, the mean age of car buyers in the U.S. was 53. For Tesla brand, it was 55. (source is a proprietary, subscribed industry database). Those under 30 have marginal relevance to this year's sales, constituting about 1% of their total.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

It's kinda funny that I'm the opposite.
I've got XM factory installed in my current Nissan and whatever XM did about 1 to 1.5 years ago has seriously hampered my reception! I can't drive on 405N in Santa Monica without dropping stations in and out. My solution? Use the XM app on my phone and I don't drop all over the place anymore. Having said this, I'll admit using XM directly from my radio is far simpler than running it on my phone, but when it bugs me, I switch.

I suspect Telsa's decision to not include XM has less to do with mounting the antenna to the glass roof and more to do with their building an empire of future monthly revenue.....

You are the smartest poster of the bunch. There is a strategy that everyone is missing, Tesla has yet to leverage their screens that are capable of much more. XM will be paying tesla for access to the most affluent and tech aware users on the market that is if XM survives the revenue and margin erosion. It will be interesting to watch as people get sick of the horrible audio quality. We will look back at XM like a black and white tv within the decade.

 

[rxlawdude]

We will look back at XM like a black and white tv within the decade.

So when you're in an area with no cell service, your advice is to use USB. So, no news, no sports. Sorry, doesn't fly with me.

As pointed out by others, AM broadcasts by government agencies for emergency information and road conditions are yet another thing that M3 owners won't be able to access.

When the FCC formally re-allocates the AM band, those advocating omitting AM will be correct. Until then, removing this potential SAFETY tool is puzzling.

 

[DurandalAI]

XM radio quality stinks. I had a 3 month trial on my Kia Soul when I had one of those, and I just couldn't get past the terrible audio quality. Even streaming on my iPhone with Spotify was better, and of course high quality sound files on my iPhone that I had downloaded/synced were crystal clear. When the XM salesman called me after my free trial expired, I told him the sound quality was poop and he should go pound sand.

 

[Sportstick]

XM radio quality stinks. I had a 3 month trial on my Kia Soul when I had one of those, and I just couldn't get past the terrible audio quality. Even streaming on my iPhone with Spotify was better, and of course high quality sound files on my iPhone that I had downloaded/synced were crystal clear. When the XM salesman called me after my free trial expired, I told him the sound quality was poop and he should go pound sand.

For some, the quality of the sound at that level of detail is less important than the presence and choices of the sound. The variety of material I don't already own, plus the news stations and tv audio tracks (MSNBC, etc.) no matter where I travel make Sirius quite valuable to me. I have two lifetime subs in two cars (from when they did those), by now amortized to almost nothing per month, plus another car on an annual renewal. Not having Sirius in the Model 3 is a "serious" negative!

 

[Xenoilphobe]

So when you're in an area with no cell service, your advice is to use USB. So, no news, no sports. Sorry, doesn't fly with me.

As pointed out by others, AM broadcasts by government agencies for emergency information and road conditions are yet another thing that M3 owners won't be able to access.

When the FCC formally re-allocates the AM band, those advocating omitting AM will be correct. Until then, removing this potential SAFETY tool is puzzling.

Sounds like a portable XM device would solve one problem and a $20 AM transceiver solves the other.

I think you be surprised by the availability of content on slacker TuneIn and simple apps you can download on your iPhone.

I personally use internet based police scanner data in our area. Which is extremely informative.

 

[Bad Horse]

I don't know any person below the age of 30 that has ever even heard/listened to anything on AM radio nor satellite radio. The current generation isn't about that... Get with the times.....

Under 30 here, the lack of AM sucks (though apparently for interference with the signal) because most sports games I would want to listen to while I happen to be driving is on AM. While streaming is awesome, mlb games for example cannot be streamed through tunein and have to be through like the mlb.tv app, which is fine, but it starts getting crazy to get that sort of work around.

When I've rented cars for work I've had plenty with XM, I can't say the model 3 not having XM will make me shed a tear, if you are going to pay to listen to music, you might as well be able to stream it and have better playlists that you like.

 

[AceSkywalker]

Under 30 here, the lack of AM sucks (though apparently for interference with the signal) because most sports games I would want to listen to while I happen to be driving is on AM. While streaming is awesome, mlb games for example cannot be streamed through tunein and have to be through like the mlb.tv app, which is fine, but it starts getting crazy to get that sort of work around.

When I've rented cars for work I've had plenty with XM, I can't say the model 3 not having XM will make me shed a tear, if you are going to pay to listen to music, you might as well be able to stream it and have better playlists that you like.

But how about places where cell service is spotty, people will ask. Well I say, plan ahead. You're already planning ahead with charging. Spend a couple hours, arrange some playlists, and download them onto your phone or a USB stick. Radio sucks. You don't control the playlist. You have to listen to ads or some annoying radio personality that is trying too hard.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Or this Kaito KA208 Credit Card Sized Portable Emergency Radio - Survival Frog for $20 or this Sirius Stiletto 2 Live Portable Satellite Radio Receiver & Mp3 Player As Is for $20

 

[VT_EE]

Spaceships don't have Sirius/XM radio.

 

[VT_EE]

You are the smartest poster of the bunch. There is a strategy that everyone is missing, Tesla has yet to leverage their screens that are capable of much more. XM will be paying tesla for access to the most affluent and tech aware users on the market that is if XM survives the revenue and margin erosion. It will be interesting to watch as people get sick of the horrible audio quality. We will look back at XM like a black and white tv within the decade.

I love Sirius/XM, but I have to admit, the sound quality from the satellite is crap compared to bluetooth streaming from my phone.