SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — California drivers now have a new digital option when it comes to license plates. Our state is one of the first in the country to offer these new high-tech displays.
The new plates are about the size of an iPad or Kindle, the plate number is displayed just as a regular one, except everything is digital and tied directly to your phone.
“I love them,” said Danielle Willis. “It's new, it's innovative. I was excited about that.”
Danielle and her husband are some of the first drivers in the state to get the new digital license plates or R-plates by a company called Reviver Auto.
"We got the plates five months ago,” said Danielle. “I get a lot of stares, not on me, but on the back of the car and so sometimes I forget I'm like, ‘what are they looking at?’”
The plates display registration tags digitally, so they can't be stolen.
The best part, says Willis:
"Any time I can avoid the DMV and do something digitally from an app, as far as registration mailing and tags, then I’m all there because the DMV is not somewhere that I like to be.”
You can also customize the phrase on the bottom using the app.
"My husband’s a retired Marine, so we have ‘Honor, Courage and Commitment,’” said Danielle. “You can put your birthday, ‘Happy Thanksgiving,’ anything you would like to do, so that’s kind of fun.”
The cost of the plate $700 and there's also a $7 monthly fee.
The plate includes a tracking device that you can turn on or off. If the car or plate is stolen, the plate will read stolen.
Law enforcement can also display Amber Alert messages on it
There are some concerns about security and privacy because the plates are digital. The company says it won't share any usage or tracking data from your plates with law enforcement, the DMV or other third parties.
"It's just exciting to be one of the first to have it,” Danielle said.
So far California is the first state to fully adopt the R-plates, Arizona is next, and Texas, Florida and Washington state have all passed programs to test them.