Cooper said:
Does anyone else have problems getting AM reception. I can not get any local radio stations in Seattle. So no more sports talk.
Most definitely.
I have provided feedback on this issue to both the local dealership and directly to Fisker. I also note this issue on my personal blog.
The dealership claims that the AM reception is not qualitatively different to the other marque of cars they sell (BMW). However, I still doubt that.
I suspect the antenna design/placement is the problem. As such, if you are tuned to a particularly strong signal, then indeed you will not really notice any difference to the quality of reception on another vehicle. However, because the signal strength delivered to the radio receiver is weaker with a poorer antenna, the radio has to work harder to amplify the signal and you'll bring in a lot more noise (particularly on AM, which doesn't discriminate as well as FM at picking out the actual desired signal from a range of other signals and noise).
In terms of my experience, I can unequivocally state that my old Audi used to pick up the local AM news radio station with absolutely no problem (except in one small stretch of my drive to work where the road is under some trolley bus power lines that radiate quite a bit of noise). In the Fisker, I hardly get any signal at all in the downtown core, and even when I drive out into the 'open' the signal is hardly excellent (merely acceptable and intelligible). Also, when the radio is having trouble receiving the station, I can often hear local noise from the car's electric motors (or its power circuits).
Anyway, in a nutshell, AM in the Fisker is not so good in my experience too.