Currently reading: California trials digital numberplates
Display technology, similar to that used in the Amazon Kindle, allows car registration to be more discreetly displayed when parked

California is beginning a trial of digital numberplates in a bid to ease the process of registering cars and changing registrations. 

The plates are a $699 (around £526) option from dealerships and can display customised messages by the user, as well as advertisements and traffic information. When this mode is enabled, the car’s number is displayed in the top corner, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee. This mode is only available when the car is parked, however.

Autonomous cars with emoji displays in the pipeline

There is a monthly service charge of $7 (around £5.26), as well as the cost of registering the car in the first place — it's $83 (around £62.50) in California. An additional installation fee may also be charged.

The plate, which is equipped with a tracker, can register trip data and log traffic conditions, and could help in recovering stolen vehicles, providing the plates aren’t removed when the car is stolen. 

Legally, the trial can only be offered to 0.5% of vehicles across the state, equating to 175,000. The city of Sacramento has ordered 24 plates to use for the trial and has assured union representatives that they will not be used to track drivers. 

The autonomous car that smiles at pedestrians

The trial is one of the more conventional ideas to feature digital displays on cars; past proposals have included emoji message boards on the front of autonomous cars, as well as a driverless car that can display a smiley face when encouraging pedestrians to cross in front of it. 

A Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) spokesman said that there are no plans to change the UK's number plate system in the pipeline, as the current system works effectively.

Read more:

Autonomous cars with emoji displays in the pipeline

The autonomous car that smiles at pedestrians

April Fools' Day 2017: the best jokes from the car industry

Join the debate

Comments
12
Add a comment…
premier-plates 30 September 2019

Private Plates

Why would you spend this amount of money on a piece of equipment that could be easily stolen from your vehicle. You would be better spending your money ona private plate

ZelmaWerner 6 August 2018

Sounds high priced for what

Sounds high priced for what it's miles, plus, it’s a chunk huge Brother if it can reveal where and how you force. I can not say I've ever felt UAE Essay the need to show a customized message on my car while it is parked up, let alone pay the privilege to accomplish that. but it's simply me.

Winsten147 30 June 2018

Well in this modern era the

Well in this modern era the trend of digital number plates and fashionable are too much high. Different peoples can manipulate the cheap essay writing services to get the best ideas how to modify your car interior which completely gives the better look to your car.