Digital license plates now available for drivers

An improvement, to a vehicle accessory, could be “driving” the age of technology forward.

A new license plate option, perfect for fans of technology, are now available for pre-order to drivers around Arizona.

Like an iPad for your car, digital license plates, have been in testing for over a year thanks to the work of the Arizona Department of transportation as well as the original creator and plate manufacturer, Reviver.

Doug Nick, spokesman for the Motor Vehicle Division said, “We are always looking for new ways to serve the customers, so any technology or innovation that might come along that we think could be useful, we’ll take a look at it.”

The testing being conducted has been to determine the operations of the plates as well as its endurance under multiple weather conditions.

“Because ADOT has so many maintenance vehicles and other vehicles available, that we could put a number of these on, as a test project for the last year and a half, we can do it in places like Yuma where it is obviously very warm, there is a lot of sun exposure,” Nick said.

ADOT has also been in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Public Safety to ensure the look of the plate and messaging capabilities meet legal requirements.

“By the time we got to the current variation, we felt like law enforcement was satisfied with i ts capabilities because this is obviously a law-enforcement tool but also we took a look at how it is in terms of durability,” Nick said.

According to a press release by ADOT, “Rplate Digital License Plates, are LTE wireless connected devices similar to a tablet. The license plate number is constantly displayed, and the technology allows for added messages such as “invalid,” “stolen” and other notifications if needed.”

“It has a number of features that really help especially in terms of law enforcement and the transportation agency because among the capabilities are the ability to put messages on the plates, say the registration has expired or the insurance has expired these are things that the motor vehicle division has on file, so if those things change these plates have the capability of flashing iMessage to say this is an expired plate,” Nick said.

The added messages allow for improvements in vehicle recovery and security for drivers.

For example, ADOT hopes to allow the plates to show that a vehicle has been stolen, or to display messages such as Amber Alerts.

“If the vehicle is reported stolen the capability exists to have a message flash up there saying this vehicle is stolen which is obviously really an advantage for law-enforcement if they are looking for that vehicle,” said Nick.

There is also talk of showing if registration tags are expired or to allow drivers to display a specialty plate.

“We feel like the Internet has a future so let’s do all we can with it within reason,” Nick said.

Motorists who wish to buy the plate must do so through participating resellers, including vehicle dealerships and professional auto service providers or the plate manufacturer, Reviver Auto.

Pre-order is available on Reviver’s website and the plates currently run $500-$800, and MVD does not receive any proceeds from sales.