California Legalized Digital License Plates for All Vehicles

According to a recent report from the Los Angeles Times, California made digital license plates legal for all vehicles following a trial with a small group of drivers that lasted almost four years. Additionally, through a smartphone app, users may modify the text that appears at the bottom of their license plates and even provide safety notices and alarms, such as identifying the vehicle as stolen.

Only one company will offer digital license plates in California

The only company permitted to provide digital license plates to California drivers is Reviver. In addition, there are two versions of license plates - battery-powered and hard-wired. According to Reviver, the battery-powered option has a five-year or 50,000-mile battery life. Furthermore, Reviver claims that in addition to the app's personalization and safety notice features, there are automated registration and renewal features with the DMV, location services, and trip monitoring functions. Moreover, there are some ongoing expenses if you decide to invest in a digital license plate. The trial term for the digital plates' original $700 price included a $7 monthly fee. However, the full cost now involves a minimum 2-year subscription, which you can pay at a rate of $20 per month for the first two years or $215 per year for the following four years if you prefer the battery-powered model. Additionally, the hard-wired version is significantly more expensive and costs $25 per month for two years or $275 per year for four years and is presently only available to commercial businesses.

What's More

Although self-installation is an option, you may also hire a professional to install the hard-wired plate for $150 or the battery-powered plate for $99. According to a company-uploaded YouTube video, it takes only about five minutes to install the digital license plates. Neville Boston, a co-founder of Reviver, stated on the company website, "The metal license plate is a 19th-century feature of 21st-century life." Boston also remarked, "The ability of our platform to deliver greater utility, convenience, and innovation to everyone across the ecosystem of vehicle ownership is unprecedented. Over time, the data and patterns generated through our unique platform have the opportunity to help evolve our transportation infrastructure and be an important tool to make travel safer, smarter, and more efficient.” On another note, only two other states, Arizona and Michigan, presently permit digital license plates for personal vehicles. But, Texas does permit digital license plates for commercial vehicles. Also, Read- This country is giving car drivers nearly $4000 to trade in their car for an e-bike But here's the problem - What happens if the battery dies and a police officer pulls you over because they've had a bad day and want to take it out on someone? In that case, if you can afford it, you should probably purchase the hard-wired version to be extra safe. Otherwise, a traditional metal plate still has a lot of benefits - even though it can't show Amber Alerts, at least it doesn't require a battery.