California is the first U.S. state to begin a trial of digital license plates and is focusing on Sacramento for the test. Statistics from late May found that only 116 cars in California have the high-tech plates so far. However, under the pilot program’s rules, that number could rise to approximately 175,000 ” equaling one half of 1 percent of the total cars in the state.
The DMV Doesn’t Offer Them
The new plates reportedly include batteries and computer chips and use the same technology as Amazon Kindle devices. Also, instead of metal components, these car attachments have screens covered with a protective material. However, those are not the only characteristics that set these plates apart from conventional license plates.
Drivers will not be able to order the plates from their nearest Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) locations. Instead, they’ll have to go to participating dealerships to buy the plates and get them installed.
The cost for the plate itself should be around $699, plus whatever dealers decide to charge for installation. Drivers who opt for the digital license plates will also pay a monthly subscription fee of approximately $7.
What Can the Plates Do?
The Sacramento government recently received 24 Chevrolet Bolt vehicles equipped with the new plates. Representatives say that future uses for the license plates are still under consideration and that user experiences during the trial period will help determine them.
A company called Reviver Auto is behind the new license plates and markets them under the Rplate Pro name. It says the plates have geo-fencing technology that notifies consumers if their cars go outside of a specific area. Moreover, it’s possible for people to renew their vehicle registrations or plates electronically and display customized messages.
Drivers may also get the option to have a device embedded in the plates that let them pay tolls, similarly to the gadgets many people affix to their windshields to handle toll fees without requiring physical money.
Product documentation mentions that people can rest assured their data doesn’t get shared with third-party companies, such as the DMV or law enforcement agencies. However, sources say police will be able to track stolen cars with help from the new license plates and tell the last known location of the plates if criminals remove them.
Reviver Auto clarifies that customers can turn off telematics or location data at any time via a complementing app or web portal and that all data storage includes banking-level security.
Potential Future Marketing Opportunities
People wonder whether the plates may eventually be used to give people marketing information as they drive. The smart license plates will only show specialized content when vehicles stop. However, there’s the possibility of intelligent billboards that change displays depending on what’s known ” via the license plates ” about cars that drive past.
Today’s digital signage is incredibly versatile and innovative. A billboard system in Japan uses big data and machine learning to identify vehicle types and has an accuracy rate of 94 percent. Then, it serves up advertising likely to appeal to the people in those cars and displays it on signs for several seconds.
The companies behind that initiative don’t identify cars by their license plates. Depending on the adoption levels of these license plates in California ” which are also arriving soon in Arizona ” marketers might decide the new opportunity to appeal to consumers on the road is too big to pass up.
Another Communication Method
Beyond the potential marketing possibilities, city officials think the license plates will be instrumental in helping drivers get the updates that matter most. For example, the plates could give information about snow removal, road closures and heavy traffic as starting points.
Hacking Is a Risk
Some consumers are understandably worried about being tracked through the license plates eventually, even if that’s not part of the current plan. After all, a few decades ago, people would have never imagined that their smartphones would show advertising based on their purchase preferences and geographic locations, but those approaches are common now.
If the license plates gather increasing amounts of data, they’d become tempting targets for hackers. Even when companies and entire industries take recommended precautions to keep cybercriminals out, many of them still find ways to infiltrate systems, causing extraordinary amounts of distress and expense for victims.
Not Mandated for Drivers
The important thing for motor vehicle owners to keep in mind is that they are not required to use these advanced license plates. They’ll still have the choice to get the older ones instead. Those who decide to be early adopters could enjoy not having to go through the hassles of renewing their plates the old-fashioned way or sticking tags onto metal plates. However, they might also sacrifice privacy in exchange for the handiness.
