Having a car is awesome. Going to the tax collector's office is NOT.
Florida is testing out digital license plates, which would mean no more trips downtown to renew your plates, and it could potentially save millions of dollars for taxpayers.
A company called Reviver Auto has developed electronic license plates, dubbed Rplates. Rplates are now on sale in California, and will be available in Arizona, Texas and Florida in the near future.
From ABC Action News:
Reviver Auto CEO Neville Boston said his company is working to legalize them in another nine states by the end of the year.
The plates retail for $699, plus a monthly service plan that costs up to $7.75 for the desktop browser-based software to manage the system and optional GPS tracking.
With the plates, drivers would never have to renew their tag in person at the DMV office or through the mail. They could simply do it online with no need to replace stickers each year.
The same goes for customization.
With a click of a button, you could have your favorite sports team, show off your alma mater or support your favorite cause.
Each plate’s unique characters are constantly displayed.
In an emergency, the tag displays weather advisories and Amber Alerts issued by the National Weather Service and law enforcement.
Rplates are estimated to save Californians around $20 million in postage spent by the DMV.
Right now, the steep price tag seems to benefit the state more than the consumer who has to foot the optional bill. But current talks could tilt the scale.
If given permission advertisers could display ads on someone's tag. The feature is available while a car is parked.
If they could get the price down to something that more Americans could easily afford, I'd be interested. But $700 plus another $8 a month doesn't sound like something I'd do. It costs me considerably less to spend an hour downtown. But with technology, things tend to be more expensive when they're brand new, and prices decrease as the technology becomes more commonplace...think about how expensive it was to buy a BluRay player when they first came out...now they're $30 at Walmart.
It seems like it would be easier to give each license plate a unique bar code or QR code, and then create a secure app to scan your plate from home, and pay thru the app. They could even charge us for the app, and we'd all still save time and money. Seriously, I should just be in charge of everything. I'm here for you, America.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Would you be interested in having these?