

This later became known as the “ Steve Jobs loophole,” because those with the wealth and inclination - as Jobs did - could get around having plates by simply leasing a new car every six months to avoid having plates. Until 2019, it was law in California that no front plate on a car was only allowed on new cars for a grace period of up to 6 months, presumably while you navigated local bureaucracy to acquire plates from the DMV. They have the most stringent emissions standards, and a slew of other laws governing your cars. Can You Drive a Tesla with No Front Plates in California?Ī Tesla Model Y with no front license platesĬalifornia is known for its strict levels of regulation when it comes to many areas, and automotive is one of them. The 20 states allowing no front plates didn’t all jump on the bandwagon at once. Such plates are only currently legal in Arizona, California and Michigan, but where some have pioneered and led the way, others will inevitably follow. With all the digital systems and signals that cars are emitting to scan the road and receive information from the worldwide web, how inconceivable could it be for police officers to able to simply tap into some frequency and pull up information on cars in that way?Īlternatively, there’s scope for digital plates that police could scan.
How to mount a front license plate oin a 2008 mazda 3 driver#
For cars dating back to 1980, it was also undeniably true that there were precious few (if any) other ways to identify a vehicle on the road short of just stopping the driver anyway and asking to see their license and registration.Īs we all know, though, automotive technology has come a long way in the past few decades. On the surface, it seems reasonable for Police to claim that being able to identify a vehicle from two directions is better than just one. Other authorities objected because their existing toll systems relied on scans of the front license plate to take effect, which therefore impacts local revenues. Police disagreed with this assessment, citing the need for front license plates for the easier identification of approaching vehicles. States that don’t require a front license plate include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. These features depend on carefully placed cameras and sensors, which can be interfered with by front license plates. There are those that have pointed out that front license plates get in the way of adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, automatic braking and other ADAS and safety features. In the wider scope, another key reason to not include front plates is safety. Making them legal would ensure that police had to have better reasons for pulling people over. A missing front license plate was the whole reason for pulling over Sam DuBose in 2015, an incident that eventually turned into a fatal shooting. There were other arguments used by lawmakers in Ohio, too, such as missing front plates being illegal then leading to racial profiling. Others also pointed out that removing the need for a front license plate cuts down production need by half, thus saving on resource and labor costs. The argument from car owners was that front license plates damage the bumper, restrict the flow of air into the grille, and even impact the overall aerodynamism of the vehicle. We’re focussing on Tesla in this article, but it’s common to see cars without front plates in America.

Note: Tesla aren’t the only car maker who deliver some cars without front license plates. In July 2020, Ohio became one of what is now 20 states in the US that do not deem front license plates necessary. Tesla Model Y parked up indoors with head lights onĪs it happens, there has been an ongoing battle between car owners and police and other interested parties on this topic.
