Changable electronic License Plate
 

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/06/11/s...plates-w-poll/

South Carolina may soon lead the way into the future with electronic license plates for cars and trucks. Using so-called electronic paper, technology similar to what is seen on digital readers like the Amazon Kindle, these new license plates would be capable of dynamically changing from normal numbers and letters to a word like SUSPENDED, UNINSURED or STOLEN.

Both passing motorists and police would be able to read the plate's message, and the designers say warning messages could be in bright red or made to flash. Each digital license plate would be linked to the DMV using a cellular connection, and power for the display would be generated either by the vibrations of an automobile or by a solar film over the plate. Power would only be required to change the plate's display – no power is required to keep the current display in place, and its creators say the DMV would not be able to track the plate.

At present, a proposal is in the works that would see state-owned vehicles in South Carolina use these electronic plates in a pilot program. If successful, and if cost can be brought to manageable levels, electronic plates could replace the simple stamped metal plates currently in use across the country. We have to wonder, though, how the general population would react to digital license plates that are connected wireless to an agency like the DMV.

I would hate to see this happen, but love to hear about them being hacked.

Lol.. I cant imagine how creative it would be if hacked.

Btw, i have seen a license plate read "stolen" :lol:

Never saw it but heard about one that said "no plate"...not sure the DMV would let that one fly though...

Hack plate, change id, run toll, change back ala knight rider.

That could be confusing. All the plates on Honda Civics wout read: FANBOI, and the BMW cars would read: D!CK

so what would ours read? SIDEWAYS?

Warning zombies.

i read that on jalopnik some time ago. the guy had hundreds of thousands of dollars in tickets because whenever a cop pulled over someone for no license plates, they would write in "no plate" on the ticket. dunno how true that story is but its pretty funny

Yup...that's probably where I'm remembering it from...I sure miss the old Jalopnik...:sigh:

SLWASSHT

:D

Sounds like another way for DMV to take more money from me.

Cost of unit: 100.00
Cost to consumer (me): 279.00

And I thought having to buy a new ordinary license plate every 7 yrs was bad.

Connecticut doesn't even have validation stickers - all plate numbers and status are stored in the DMV database, immediately accessible by LE. Police have scanners that read plates while driving in either direction - stolen, suspended, uninsured, etc. signal instantly on the cruiser's computer. A much cheaper and less invasive method. Works quite well here.

You wouldn't even need to "hack" the plate. Just replace it with one of those desktop LCD picture displays showing the license plate of your choice.

Does an ipad work ?

Only way this would work is if it is an option like custom plates. Otherwrise the cost would be a huge factor. Not even counting getting them made but who is responsible for them? Would be an expensive easy to vandalize item. Not to mention the implications of it being hacked... Then what is the next step, a tracking chip in your digital plate?

just no

Won't work. What will all the prisoners do if they can't stamp plates anymore? Big bob is going to lose his factory time to a little asian kid who can solder.

Edit: That NSA/Big brother thought popped up in my head. What's not to stop them from tracking your wear abouts, speed, ect with just a small chip thrown in there? :tinfoilhat:

I'm thinking of forming a political party called "Tracked Enough Already". You need to be willing to be called a racist and terrorist to join, though.

NP, where do i sign up

I think an electronic plate would be awesome...to hack.

Also, this would add weight over a conventional metal plate, for those concerned

At that point, why bother with the license plate at all?

If you're going to put in a networked device in every car, make it broadcast an ID to the area, like the IFF transponder on a plane. Buy a simple receiver that can pick up all of the IDs in the area, and install it in a police car. What's the point of having it download data, display that data visually, then have a camera or a human enter that into a different device, only to upload it to the the same database? Skip three steps and just have a transponder on the car that broadcasts the info to any scanner in the vicinity. Who needs plates anyway?

I think this a bad idea. I think something like a OLED low output device could work wonders in theory but in a real world application, its just gonna cost too much and the DMV is gonna charge out the ass for it. And i cant see how secure it can be. It could also cause a lot of hassles with the police department

Haven't you heard??

****s own Audis now!

Scott