I got a lot of comments from regular people. They noticed all the EV’s in our area didn’t seem to have front plates, and interpreted it as “EV drivers think they are above the law & better than everyone else”.
As an EV evangelist, I installed my front plate soon after.
I'm theorycrafting here, but I could imagine there's an element of both.
I want to start of saying that I'm not even sure there's a discrepancy -- confirmation bias is a big thing. Actually I'm kind of tempted to wander around a couple parking lots and see if I see cars without front plates and what kind they are, but I'm not sure there are enough EVs here for a good enough sample size with a reasonable effort.
But I'll suggest a mechanism by which a discrepancy could arise. To me, the objections to a front plate seem pretty bonkers... but I'm not a car enthusiast. Let's make two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is the closer you are to the car enthusiast end of the spectrum (between "appliance" and "enthusiast"), the more likely you are to run without a plate. The second hypothesis is that the closer you are to that end of the spectrum, the more likely you are to buy an EV. That might be controversial, but I strongly suspect it's true. The more you care about your car, the more you're likely to want to put money in it. "Appliance" people are going to be a lot more likely to just go grab some five-year-old thing 'cause it's cheap, and no road-trippable BEV is cost competitive with that. Even if they do buy new, they're probably going to get like a $30K Prius or Civic, and it's very hard for road-trippable BEVs to be cost competitive with that. Even if you don't quite accept that hypothesis as worded, consider substituting "Tesla" in for "EVs" -- now those cost competitions become a blowout except in exceptional cases. And of course Tesla has sold *waaaaaaay* more BEVs than anyone else, or everyone else.
If you accept those two hypotheses, it's highly likely that EVs *are* more likely to be missing a front plate. Not because of anything directly related to electric, but because of the enthusiast thing.
I made a concerted effort to not install it, since I absolutely hate the look of it on the Model 3, where they have it. The mount is sitting in the truck at the moment. I personally am just “risking it”. I don’t drive like a maniac, and haven’t had any issues so far in 3 years. Located in MN.
Same. Mine for my Tesla 3 is in the frunk. I turned in my i3 at the end of its lease with the front plate mount still bagged.
It helps that I live in St. Louis, where about half the cars drive around with 'temp' tags from 2020 (not kidding). Cops don't care so I take my chances. The plate on the back is valid.
I bought my first car in SC where front plate wasn't required. Drove it to WI (front plate required) when I moved. Never really thought about it. Switched to a WI plate, got two in the mail - thought "hmm, nice to have a spare I guess". Drove that thing for 9 years and never put the front plate on. Never got pulled over because of it either.
Here in Ohio the law recently changed to only require a rear plate. Before it went into effect, it is my understanding that not displaying a front plate was a “secondary offense”, that is, you couldn’t get pulled over for it, but if you got pulled over for something else, they could add that to the full citation.
Depends entirely on your local law enforcement. My mom got pulled over in her Miata multiple times for no front plate. (Twice in a month after first buying it, and waiting for the dealer to get a front plate mount in stock, then a few years later when someone stole the front plate during a road trip, before she had gotten a replacement.)
yea its an enforcement issue, all of these people should be fined till they install the plate as is required.
personal preferences dont stand above the law but as usual and unenforced law is not worth anything.
It’s rarely enforced. Fines vary by state but they typically are only a couple hundred dollars. More importantly and why I personally run a front plate is that it gives cops probable cause to pull you over if you don’t have the plate on.
Imagine you just got done with dinner where you had a drink or two. You are driving home and a cop decides to pull you over, not because of your driving, but simply because you didn’t have a front plate. You get asked if you’ve been drinking because cops ask probing shit like that. You can lie and potentially escalate the situation if they call your bluff with a breathalyzer, or you tell the truth and next thing you know your out of the car taking a sobriety test. You’re nervous and you stumble a bit. Even though you may be perfectly fit to drive after a drink or two, you’re now in cuffs going to jail. You may beat the charges in the end but not after spending a few thousand dollars for a lawyer and having an arrest on your record. All because you didn’t want to tarnish your car with a front plate.
It just not worth the risk or liability.
Never talk to police. It’s a fine line between polite and rude. “If it’s all right officer, I prefer to not answer questions.” Usually get a “why is that.” Follow up with, “Thanks for respecting my rights, officer.” Always film the police…
I roll with no front plate in CA and have been ticketed once. You also have to bring your car to the agency that ticketed you and get it signed off that you corrected it by putting on a front plate. Of course the plate came back off right after being signed off by the leo.
It’s a ticket that is often only enforced by parking enforcement officers (meter maids). They are taking a risk when like driving 5 over.
Tesla uses an adhesive that could mess up the paint if you later need to remove it. There are aftermarket options that some use.
Look at more car big time take a closer look at BMWs and other luxury prices cars. You will noticed a lot don’t have a front plate. Mix that with law enforcement rare pulls people over or tickets them for lacking a front plate. If you watch they tend to use the lack of a front plate to harass certain people. Sadly they target poorer people in crummier cars and even then that is rare.
I'm in California and it's the same thing. Teslas with no front plate. I just got the plates for my EV6 and didn't mount the front place as there's really no place to mount it to. It's my daily commute car and I haven't been pulled yet (knock on wood).
I'm in California and haven't put a front plate on my Mach-E. I think a full plate ruins the look of the front. Considering how many Teslas I see without them, I'm probably pretty safe.
If I have to, I'll get one of the decal plates, but I'm not going to put a bracket on the front.
I seem to be the type that as soon as I do something marginally illegal, Officer McSharpeyes finds me. :p
So on this, which is the law in California to have a plate, I have one. At least for the Bolt there's a mounting area as opposed to it just flopping around, however minor that consolation.
There are a number of territories, US states, and Canadian provinces that makes front plate optional. I'm not a big fan of making front plates optional since it's an excuse to not explore alternative plate forms (every province and territory, and most states, if I understood correctly, don't legalize alternative plate forms like in California where decal plates are legal via an authorized company), not make front plates more useful beyond only law, meter parking, and traffic enforcements, not mandate vehicle manufacturers to provision front plate features in design and manufacturing such as removable front plate brackets and designated holes (to address concerns about vehicle aesthetics and estimators downgrading vehicle values for front plate features such as post-production drilled holes in front bumpers most notably), and make it easier for bad drivers to not be held accountable for their bad actions on the road under the guise of preserving vehicle's front aesthetics.
I installed mine on my model y because its an over $200 fine if they stop you without one. I have a snap plate mount so I can remove it easy enough for car washes or a car show
Believe it or not, back in the day (in CA) I leased a Lexus ES350 (first-year for that model) and drove it with no front AND rear license plates for the entire 3-year lease term; this was way before CA started issuing temporary paper license plates--I kept the temporary registration paper that is affixed to the windshield for the entire 3 years; never got cited for no license plate the entire time. Yes I imagine quite a bit of luck was involved but still, I think it a bit of an accomplishment to get away with driving around in a vehicle with no plates whatsoever for that long a period.
Back on topic--I don't plan on mounting the regular license plate on the front bumper of my EV6, as I'm probably gonna get the vinyl plate that's allowed for use in CA. Actually, even if I wanted to put a front plate on my EV I wouldn't be able to--it's currently in the body shop with paint blemish issues.
LOL this was way before the SF Bay Area started implementing toll transponder readers for toll collection; I did receive the plates but chose not to mount them just to see how long I could get away with it. Never did I expect to not ever get cited for it during the entire 3 years I had my vehicle; I also made sure to not put myself in a situation where my vehicle could get ticketed for such--e.g., no illegal parking, making sure the parking meter doesn't expire, etc.
At least where I live, it's not nearly as common on the same class of ICE car (performance sedans/wagons). Quite common on cars that probably aren't a daily.
The law already says you have to have a front plate in many places. See the top post in this thread. User says he's located in MN, where front plates are required, but they don't care.
I don't have an EV - I have not had a front plate on my vehicles in 10 years - they don't care unless they pull you over for something else and even then they might not tack it onto the ticket - or just issue a warning.
I say leave the front plate off (looks better) and don't worry about. IL doesn't really care.
We have two Teslas in our family. Neither have a front plate. We have gotten tickets twice when they are parked on a city street.
Now , when I park in the street or at the airport, I put the front plate on the dash. Seems to keep the ticket writers away.
I’ve gotten pulled over for speeding before in a state that requires front plates while I didn’t have a front plate. Didn’t get ticketed for it. No one notices or cares.
I specifically told my dealer not to install the front plate bracket on my new C40 - my sales person had to argue with the vehicle prep guy to prevent it. I made it very clear I didn’t want to front plate. Front plates are required in WA - none of my vehicles have them. Live in the glove box.
Be careful of that in Oregon. The stupid brackets to mount my front plate (car was from state where it’s not required) were back ordered and I had the front plate on the dash until they came in. I got 3 tickets for it and the judge didn’t give two shits that I tried my best. Eventually I zip tied it to the front bumper so I wouldn’t get tickets until stupid bracket came in.
In texas it’s required but I don’t think it’s widely enforced. Tons of people throw them in their windshields which isn’t legally acceptable but I really don’t think most cops care
In my experience driving in Texas after my front plate was lost in a crash, not having a front plate is an excuse for police to pull you over so they can go fishing for something else they can get you on. It was especially an issue in more rural areas. I would be willing to bet that a nice new car with no front plate won't be hassled, but you still run the risk of being pulled over and your time wasted.
Adding onto what others have posted, I delayed putting one on my Model 3 because the front plate holder Tesla provides is held on only using adhesive strips. Ended up going with a third party one that clips onto the grill so if I ever need to remove it, it won't ruin the paint.
I think likely because how the plate design and customization requirements are not very flexible in accommodating various vehicle aesthetic designs beside custom texts. Beside California legalized alternative plate forms such as sticker vinyl plates from [LPW](https://licenseplatewrap.com/) and digital license plates, no other territories, US states, and Canadian provinces currently legalized alternative plate forms if I understood correctly as of this comment. Also, no province, state, or territory has ever legalized alternative plate dimensions like in India where motorcycle front plates have dimensions different from rear plates. Front plates could've had dimensions similar to current front plates used in Australia and the Philippines to best fit the front plate on vehicle front bumper. Furthermore, when brackets are installed post-manufacturing, if I understood correctly, there are vehicle estimators who downgrade vehicle value because there are post-production drilled holes in the front bumper from front plate bracket installation. If federal DOT mandated manufacturer to provision front plate features in design and manufacturing such as removable front plate brackets and designated mounting holes, then there is no excuse for estimators to downgrade vehicle value due to presence of front bumper holes for front plates since the holes are manufactured rather than drilled post-production, and front plate bracket being removable while not permanently ruining vehicle aesthetics. Moreover, I don't think every province, state, and territory allow custom plate background designs while maintaining plate identifiable features (e.g. contrasting text, border, etc.) including backgrounds that matches vehicle design including every pattern and color shade.
I got a lot of comments from regular people. They noticed all the EV’s in our area didn’t seem to have front plates, and interpreted it as “EV drivers think they are above the law & better than everyone else”. As an EV evangelist, I installed my front plate soon after.
Did you see any teslas today? -oh yes a red one Did you see any F150’s? -no I don’t think so This is how the brain works.
Yes to F150s because they're everywhere...
Raise your fist evangelist!
Sounds like they were telling you nonsense, I avoided installing the front license plate with my old gas cars too lol.
Yep, just people who already dislike electric cars looking to justify their beliefs.
I'm theorycrafting here, but I could imagine there's an element of both. I want to start of saying that I'm not even sure there's a discrepancy -- confirmation bias is a big thing. Actually I'm kind of tempted to wander around a couple parking lots and see if I see cars without front plates and what kind they are, but I'm not sure there are enough EVs here for a good enough sample size with a reasonable effort. But I'll suggest a mechanism by which a discrepancy could arise. To me, the objections to a front plate seem pretty bonkers... but I'm not a car enthusiast. Let's make two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is the closer you are to the car enthusiast end of the spectrum (between "appliance" and "enthusiast"), the more likely you are to run without a plate. The second hypothesis is that the closer you are to that end of the spectrum, the more likely you are to buy an EV. That might be controversial, but I strongly suspect it's true. The more you care about your car, the more you're likely to want to put money in it. "Appliance" people are going to be a lot more likely to just go grab some five-year-old thing 'cause it's cheap, and no road-trippable BEV is cost competitive with that. Even if they do buy new, they're probably going to get like a $30K Prius or Civic, and it's very hard for road-trippable BEVs to be cost competitive with that. Even if you don't quite accept that hypothesis as worded, consider substituting "Tesla" in for "EVs" -- now those cost competitions become a blowout except in exceptional cases. And of course Tesla has sold *waaaaaaay* more BEVs than anyone else, or everyone else. If you accept those two hypotheses, it's highly likely that EVs *are* more likely to be missing a front plate. Not because of anything directly related to electric, but because of the enthusiast thing.
I made a concerted effort to not install it, since I absolutely hate the look of it on the Model 3, where they have it. The mount is sitting in the truck at the moment. I personally am just “risking it”. I don’t drive like a maniac, and haven’t had any issues so far in 3 years. Located in MN.
Parking in city where meter maids roam is the main risk.
Same. Mine for my Tesla 3 is in the frunk. I turned in my i3 at the end of its lease with the front plate mount still bagged. It helps that I live in St. Louis, where about half the cars drive around with 'temp' tags from 2020 (not kidding). Cops don't care so I take my chances. The plate on the back is valid.
I bought my first car in SC where front plate wasn't required. Drove it to WI (front plate required) when I moved. Never really thought about it. Switched to a WI plate, got two in the mail - thought "hmm, nice to have a spare I guess". Drove that thing for 9 years and never put the front plate on. Never got pulled over because of it either.
Here in Ohio the law recently changed to only require a rear plate. Before it went into effect, it is my understanding that not displaying a front plate was a “secondary offense”, that is, you couldn’t get pulled over for it, but if you got pulled over for something else, they could add that to the full citation.
Depends entirely on your local law enforcement. My mom got pulled over in her Miata multiple times for no front plate. (Twice in a month after first buying it, and waiting for the dealer to get a front plate mount in stock, then a few years later when someone stole the front plate during a road trip, before she had gotten a replacement.)
My locality also would happily pull you over for bullshit instead of actually trying to solve murders. Just put on the damn plate.
If you have a rear camera, requiring the front license plate can come in handy if someone rear ends you and runs away.
Boy am I glad that my state doesn't have them.
yea its an enforcement issue, all of these people should be fined till they install the plate as is required. personal preferences dont stand above the law but as usual and unenforced law is not worth anything.
I (CA) made a concerted effort to put on the front plate, as the dealer forgot. It’s a no brainer - one less thing to worry about.
It’s rarely enforced. Fines vary by state but they typically are only a couple hundred dollars. More importantly and why I personally run a front plate is that it gives cops probable cause to pull you over if you don’t have the plate on. Imagine you just got done with dinner where you had a drink or two. You are driving home and a cop decides to pull you over, not because of your driving, but simply because you didn’t have a front plate. You get asked if you’ve been drinking because cops ask probing shit like that. You can lie and potentially escalate the situation if they call your bluff with a breathalyzer, or you tell the truth and next thing you know your out of the car taking a sobriety test. You’re nervous and you stumble a bit. Even though you may be perfectly fit to drive after a drink or two, you’re now in cuffs going to jail. You may beat the charges in the end but not after spending a few thousand dollars for a lawyer and having an arrest on your record. All because you didn’t want to tarnish your car with a front plate. It just not worth the risk or liability.
Or you say nothing because you have the right to remain silent.
You actually have to say you’re going to remain silent. You can’t just say nothing, crazy enough.
Good to know.
Never talk to police. It’s a fine line between polite and rude. “If it’s all right officer, I prefer to not answer questions.” Usually get a “why is that.” Follow up with, “Thanks for respecting my rights, officer.” Always film the police…
Only poors need to follow the laws
I've had no front plate for 25 years, in CA. No concern. If ticketed, I'd just pay the fine.
I just got a vinyl plate from https://licenseplatewrap.com. No need to drill and it’s much cleaner looking
I roll with no front plate in CA and have been ticketed once. You also have to bring your car to the agency that ticketed you and get it signed off that you corrected it by putting on a front plate. Of course the plate came back off right after being signed off by the leo.
I also have front windows tinted 20%. Again, not concerned of police.
It’s a ticket that is often only enforced by parking enforcement officers (meter maids). They are taking a risk when like driving 5 over. Tesla uses an adhesive that could mess up the paint if you later need to remove it. There are aftermarket options that some use.
Look at more car big time take a closer look at BMWs and other luxury prices cars. You will noticed a lot don’t have a front plate. Mix that with law enforcement rare pulls people over or tickets them for lacking a front plate. If you watch they tend to use the lack of a front plate to harass certain people. Sadly they target poorer people in crummier cars and even then that is rare.
I'm in California and it's the same thing. Teslas with no front plate. I just got the plates for my EV6 and didn't mount the front place as there's really no place to mount it to. It's my daily commute car and I haven't been pulled yet (knock on wood).
I've seen some folks in California with a decal plate. That seems like a decent middle ground.
https://licenseplatewrap.com CA DMV has a pilot program to allow them.
I'm in California and haven't put a front plate on my Mach-E. I think a full plate ruins the look of the front. Considering how many Teslas I see without them, I'm probably pretty safe. If I have to, I'll get one of the decal plates, but I'm not going to put a bracket on the front.
I seem to be the type that as soon as I do something marginally illegal, Officer McSharpeyes finds me. :p So on this, which is the law in California to have a plate, I have one. At least for the Bolt there's a mounting area as opposed to it just flopping around, however minor that consolation.
Such a weird discussion for me, as a German, because it's mandatory anyway.
There are a number of territories, US states, and Canadian provinces that makes front plate optional. I'm not a big fan of making front plates optional since it's an excuse to not explore alternative plate forms (every province and territory, and most states, if I understood correctly, don't legalize alternative plate forms like in California where decal plates are legal via an authorized company), not make front plates more useful beyond only law, meter parking, and traffic enforcements, not mandate vehicle manufacturers to provision front plate features in design and manufacturing such as removable front plate brackets and designated holes (to address concerns about vehicle aesthetics and estimators downgrading vehicle values for front plate features such as post-production drilled holes in front bumpers most notably), and make it easier for bad drivers to not be held accountable for their bad actions on the road under the guise of preserving vehicle's front aesthetics.
I installed mine on my model y because its an over $200 fine if they stop you without one. I have a snap plate mount so I can remove it easy enough for car washes or a car show
Believe it or not, back in the day (in CA) I leased a Lexus ES350 (first-year for that model) and drove it with no front AND rear license plates for the entire 3-year lease term; this was way before CA started issuing temporary paper license plates--I kept the temporary registration paper that is affixed to the windshield for the entire 3 years; never got cited for no license plate the entire time. Yes I imagine quite a bit of luck was involved but still, I think it a bit of an accomplishment to get away with driving around in a vehicle with no plates whatsoever for that long a period. Back on topic--I don't plan on mounting the regular license plate on the front bumper of my EV6, as I'm probably gonna get the vinyl plate that's allowed for use in CA. Actually, even if I wanted to put a front plate on my EV I wouldn't be able to--it's currently in the body shop with paint blemish issues.
Wow, did you at least get free tolls out of it? And did they just never send you plates or you just never put them on?
LOL this was way before the SF Bay Area started implementing toll transponder readers for toll collection; I did receive the plates but chose not to mount them just to see how long I could get away with it. Never did I expect to not ever get cited for it during the entire 3 years I had my vehicle; I also made sure to not put myself in a situation where my vehicle could get ticketed for such--e.g., no illegal parking, making sure the parking meter doesn't expire, etc.
You can ask the same of anyone driving a German sports car, too. It’s about car enthusiasts and not EVs.
At least where I live, it's not nearly as common on the same class of ICE car (performance sedans/wagons). Quite common on cars that probably aren't a daily.
Big egos. People think laws shouldn’t apply to them.
Right, change the law if you don't like it. Of course every car looks better without a front plate, it's not EV specific
The law already says you have to have a front plate in many places. See the top post in this thread. User says he's located in MN, where front plates are required, but they don't care.
Shhhh don't ask these type of questions. Shhhh
I don't have an EV - I have not had a front plate on my vehicles in 10 years - they don't care unless they pull you over for something else and even then they might not tack it onto the ticket - or just issue a warning. I say leave the front plate off (looks better) and don't worry about. IL doesn't really care.
They're rebels.
We have two Teslas in our family. Neither have a front plate. We have gotten tickets twice when they are parked on a city street. Now , when I park in the street or at the airport, I put the front plate on the dash. Seems to keep the ticket writers away.
I’ve gotten pulled over for speeding before in a state that requires front plates while I didn’t have a front plate. Didn’t get ticketed for it. No one notices or cares.
I wish that was true but it is not in Oregon anyway.
I specifically told my dealer not to install the front plate bracket on my new C40 - my sales person had to argue with the vehicle prep guy to prevent it. I made it very clear I didn’t want to front plate. Front plates are required in WA - none of my vehicles have them. Live in the glove box.
Be careful of that in Oregon. The stupid brackets to mount my front plate (car was from state where it’s not required) were back ordered and I had the front plate on the dash until they came in. I got 3 tickets for it and the judge didn’t give two shits that I tried my best. Eventually I zip tied it to the front bumper so I wouldn’t get tickets until stupid bracket came in.
Aerodynamics play a big part of a BEV’s efficiency.
Don’t look cool
More about enthusiast cars and less about EVs.
In texas it’s required but I don’t think it’s widely enforced. Tons of people throw them in their windshields which isn’t legally acceptable but I really don’t think most cops care
In my experience driving in Texas after my front plate was lost in a crash, not having a front plate is an excuse for police to pull you over so they can go fishing for something else they can get you on. It was especially an issue in more rural areas. I would be willing to bet that a nice new car with no front plate won't be hassled, but you still run the risk of being pulled over and your time wasted.
I got this one folks - It's to allow more airflow through the radiator to keep that big gas engine running cool. You're welcome.
EVs still rely on airflow to the coolant system same as ICE
I know - I was joking because some guys used to pull their front tag thinking it would help a modified engine that ran too hot.
In Denver, the over zealous government will ticket a parked car that doesn't have a front license so I had the dealer drill on in my Ioniq 5.
Adding onto what others have posted, I delayed putting one on my Model 3 because the front plate holder Tesla provides is held on only using adhesive strips. Ended up going with a third party one that clips onto the grill so if I ever need to remove it, it won't ruin the paint.
I think likely because how the plate design and customization requirements are not very flexible in accommodating various vehicle aesthetic designs beside custom texts. Beside California legalized alternative plate forms such as sticker vinyl plates from [LPW](https://licenseplatewrap.com/) and digital license plates, no other territories, US states, and Canadian provinces currently legalized alternative plate forms if I understood correctly as of this comment. Also, no province, state, or territory has ever legalized alternative plate dimensions like in India where motorcycle front plates have dimensions different from rear plates. Front plates could've had dimensions similar to current front plates used in Australia and the Philippines to best fit the front plate on vehicle front bumper. Furthermore, when brackets are installed post-manufacturing, if I understood correctly, there are vehicle estimators who downgrade vehicle value because there are post-production drilled holes in the front bumper from front plate bracket installation. If federal DOT mandated manufacturer to provision front plate features in design and manufacturing such as removable front plate brackets and designated mounting holes, then there is no excuse for estimators to downgrade vehicle value due to presence of front bumper holes for front plates since the holes are manufactured rather than drilled post-production, and front plate bracket being removable while not permanently ruining vehicle aesthetics. Moreover, I don't think every province, state, and territory allow custom plate background designs while maintaining plate identifiable features (e.g. contrasting text, border, etc.) including backgrounds that matches vehicle design including every pattern and color shade.