BETTER PARTSFord is the first car brand to offer digital license plates (and that is quite useful)
You can now get the digital plates from an American dealer
In 1997 we already had Dutch digital license plates. To do this you had to start Windows 98 and have A2 Racer. In several American states you are allowed to replace your license plates with screens in real life. You can find such a display at more than three hundred Ford dealers in Arizona, California and Michigan.
For the special license plates, Ford works with a company called Reviver. Actually, the digital license plate is not much more than a black and white screen that shows your license plate. In the Netherlands it would add little, because if nothing strange happens, a car will carry the same license plate its entire life. Only the option to adjust the sentence under the license plate is still funny here.
In America it is a bit more convenient. For example, you can choose your own license plate for a fee and some states have multiple options for a background. In California, for example, you can choose from a black or white background. In some states, Americans must also show a registration date on their license plate. This is now done with stickers that you have to stick on the record, but that is not necessary with this record.
Not just a fun gimmick
The maker of the license plates says that the screens are not just there for fun. It has a tracker so you can see where your car is if it is stolen. You can also clearly indicate on the plate that the car has been stolen. If other road users see this, they will hopefully call the police. If the car is in the showroom, you can show the dealer's logo.
It turned out that Reviver's servers were not very secure. At the beginning of this year, hackers managed to get into the company's systems. There, the squatters not only found the live location of the digital plates, but they could also adjust the texts under the license plates. According to the record maker, measures were subsequently taken against data leakage.
How much do Ford digital license plates cost?
Reviver has two types of plates: one that runs on batteries and one that you connect to the car via a cable. The battery-powered version costs approximately 560 euros or about 70 euros per year on a subscription basis. Would you rather connect the digital license plates? Then you pay approximately 700 euros or 90 euros per year if you take out a subscription.