The ‘plates’ cost $500-$800 and can cycle through displays

If a specialty license plate isn’t quite extra enough for Arizona drivers, they now can spend $500 or more on a digital license plate, which the Arizona Department of Transportation has approved for state roads.

The black-and-white plates are lighted like the screen on a computer tablet and are equipped with antitheft features, according to the manufacturer, Reviver Auto, which also sells plates authorized for use in California.

Reviver sells plates for Arizona and California drivers for a onetime purchase price of $500 to $800, depending on the features of the plate, Reviver CEO Neville Boston said.

The plates are powered by a car’s battery. The display always remains on, but Boston said the plate will not pull from a car’s battery while parked. 

The more expensive version has the capability to use the cell network to do things such as track vehicles. Boston said the plates also can be used to set up certain areas, for example, where teen drivers are allowed to travel, sending alerts to a cell phone when the vehicle leaves those areas.

If the car is stolen, the plates have the capability of displaying a message that says “stolen,” Boston said.

Boston said consumers should consider the various uses when looking at the price.

“I want people to think of this more as a communication platform than a piece of aluminum,” he said. “People will pay $1,500 for an iPhone. But you wouldn’t pay that for a flip phone.”

Specialty plates still available

Arizona vehicle owners who purchase the technology can still participate in specialty plate programs, such as the Arizona Agriculture plate, which gives $17 from each purchase to Arizona FFA.

Boston said the plates are capable of switching between various specialty plates, but it is unclear if ADOT will allow motorists to purchase more than one design to display.

The digital plates do not display the various color schemes of specialty plates, but they can show the various designs in grayscale, Boston said. And they can be changed from a white background with black plate numbers to a black background with white plate numbers, he said.

“That’s part of why this technology is, for lack of a better word, neat,” Boston said.

The money from those specialty plates still goes to the designated recipients, ADOT spokesman Doug Nick said.

More features planned

Reviver is working on additional applications that could, for example, allow people to pay monthly rather than annual registration fees. Other features could include payment on toll roads or at parking garages, he said, adding that his company worked with the Governor’s Office to get the plates approved in Arizona.

“They were open to innovation,” Boston said.

The plates are only available from Reviver or any dealer in the state that decides to offer them on new cars, though they are coordinated with the state for registration purposes.  

“We don’t see any money from this at all,” Nick said.

ADOT tested the plates during the past year on about a dozen of its own vehicles to ensure they were reliable and don’t interfere with Department of Public Safety’s ability to track vehicles by their plate number.

“By the time we got to the current iteration, we felt any deficiencies had been corrected,” Nick said. “We made sure DPS was comfortable with it. We made sure when we did announce this was available, we had gone through a reasonable amount of time to test.”

Texas and Florida also should allow the plates this year, according to Reviver.

Boston said the company should announce retail sites where the plates are available in Arizona shortly.

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