Digital license plates... Not sure what to think.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34748524/digital-license-plates-coming-2021/

I don't know if it's good but I am pretty sure I won't like it. The only advantage I can see for our area is that a lot of people steal license plates and use them during robberies.

Thanks for posting.

$500 for a digital license plate? Plus a monthly fee of $5?

Looks cool but that seems like more than enough money for what it currently offers.

Mike.

Those two aspects to the Rplate mean it has two costs, the price of the screen itself and then the subscription connection. The basic Rplate with a five-year battery is $499 and then either $55 a year or $4.99 a month. It is also available for $17.95 a month for 36 months. Everything's a bit pricier with the wired Rplate Pro, which is the more powerful option that works best for fleets because it can offer telematics options through its built-in GPS system. The Pro costs $599 and $75 a year, or $599 and $6.99 a month to buy outright, or you can pay for it in installments of $24.95 a month for 36 months. Plus installation, of course.

A very expensive and fragile solution to a problem that doesn't exist. But at least now you are trackable by GPS....

Not surprised that California is on the leading edge of this.

Here is what I think, we dog the hell out of china for tracking there people, facial recognition and everyone must carry a smart phone and be tracked and have a "social" score.

So lets put gps in the mix and they can just end up charging us for every time we got over the posted limit, dont stop long enough at a stop sign, for those who drink spending longer then it takes to have one or two drinks and the whole deal just sucks. Track every place we go and for how long were there.

Its bad enough with the plate reader tech used today.

If people fell for the old insurance-big-brother-is-watching-you, stick-this-in-your-obd-port gag, I suppose people will fall for this too.

Should take exactly no time at all for someone to hack this thing to display truck nuts or show porn everytime you have the brake on.

On the other hand, it should display a hazy screen like any other device in the cold, so you could go all winter without a parking ticket.

Not just no, but hell no. I would just spray paint "FARM USE" on the sides of my trucks and screw that. Prove I'm not going to get supplies.

Wonder how that would work on a 6v positive ground system. Thank God for old cars.

It has it's own battery.

So is it legal to drive in another state with a Calif digital plate?

A really expensive solution to a non-problem. In my area, MUD covers the plate every time it rains/snows.

A really expensive solution to a non-problem. In my area, MUD covers the plate every time it rains/snows.

Your state will mandate the heated, washer equipped version at an extra $399 per unit.

But why stop there, ramp up the bluetooth and wifi cars already have and cross talk and just let the receivers deal with it all and we would never even need to display a plate, violations, accidents, alcohol content in the cabin air would all self report. Probably even get it down the the moment of conception for some of our children's future children, THEN park it in your smart home so it can sync up with your daily life in your own home and then we will of went full circle proving we are the actual experiment.

So you did read the book "1984"?

The article states this: "The Pro costs $599 and $75 a year, or $599 and $6.99 a month to buy outright, or you can pay for it in installments of $24.95 a month for 36 months. Plus installation, of course." So, the Pro is more than the Basic plate plus it appears there is the addition of installation fees.

Here's a couple of questions I would have regarding the plate and my questions would be firstly is the display only good for five years? The article states the battery life is only 5 years. Is the battery replaceable by the end user or is this a case where it would be cost effective to the replace with a new display? The other question I have is will the display leak or bubble up over time like the Tesla LCD screens have in their cars? Just thinking out loud here.

Also image what happens if someone throws a rock or other object at your vehicle and breaks the plate. The other scenario is a cart at grocery store slamming into it and hitting it in the right place and shattering and breaking it. I would imagine you pay out of pocket to replace it or you have to pay a special insurance to have it replaced.