Rav4 EV - AM Radio with poor reception

I drive the 405 everyday, from Huntington Beach to Mission Viejo, and I'd listen to the news radios on the AM. Going south, as soon as I pass the South Coast Plaza (405 & 55), the AM radio would start to get a lot of static. The Toyota dealer told me that's how it is with this car, because the AM radio signal is too weak that far south. I think that's a pretty crappy answer, because none of my previous cars have ever had this problem. Does anyone know if there is anything that can do to fix this problem? Maybe the radio is not shielded or grounded well enough? Or, maybe change the antenna? OR, add a noise filter? Or, is this car's radio truly beyond help?

The inverter on ANY electric car with a three phase AC motor is very noisy.

BMW went as far as to turn the AM radio completely off.

Yes, you could spend a bunch of time and money putting shielding around the motor / inverter assembly.

I'm also really disappointed with the AM reception. My 2011 LEAF had zero problems on the lower deck of the I5 bridge over the ship canal (Seattle) but the RAV4 totally craps out. Static, engine noise, and totally useless. Whatever Nissan did, Toyota didn't!

Larry_in_Seattle said:

I'm also really disappointed with the AM reception. My 2011 LEAF had zero problems on the lower deck of the I5 bridge over the ship canal (Seattle) but the RAV4 totally craps out. Static, engine noise, and totally useless. Whatever Nissan did, Toyota didn't!

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Big difference between designing an EV from the ground up and converting an ICE to an EV imho.

fromport said:

Larry_in_Seattle said:

I'm also really disappointed with the AM reception. My 2011 LEAF had zero problems on the lower deck of the I5 bridge over the ship canal (Seattle) but the RAV4 totally craps out. Static, engine noise, and totally useless. Whatever Nissan did, Toyota didn't!

Click to expand...

Big difference between designing an EV from the ground up and converting an ICE to an EV imho.

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Tell that to BMW !!!

What is AM radio? :lol:

Try replacing the antenna with a longer one.

TonyWilliams said:

The inverter on ANY electric car with a three phase AC motor is very noisy.

BMW went as far as to turn the AM radio completely off.

Yes, you could spend a bunch of time and money putting shielding around the motor / inverter assembly.

Click to expand...

Re: the BMW, in this case, it's the i3, built from the ground up as an EV or EV w/REx engine but w/disabled AM radio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Kym1eGpQ4 is what happens if you try using an portable AM radio in an i3. :mrgreen: (I'd imagine Tony has seen the video but many others here haven't...)