There are hundreds and thousands of cars that just look similar even if they belong to different models. The only way to identify a car and its owner is through the license plate that has a specific number. It is a plate with a set of characters carrying information of the owner’s local area of residence and a tad more detail. The color, the pattern, and the code give some information that is vital to law enforcement agencies, but it is not always enough. One company in the US wants to equip these little boards with exceptional capabilities.
Reviver, a California-based firm, is making a digital license plate called rPlat. The product was first debuted at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit during Automobili-D a few months ago. The event was created solely for promoting and showcasing connected car technology. This sleek and modern license plate is like a tablet that comes in customized plate styles and holds the car’s updated registration information. They have an added Amber Alert feature that activates urgent bulletins in case of a child abduction.
We have been using the ancient number plate systems for over a century now. There has been no significant improvement, but the Reviver license plate is about to change that. More than 100,000 cars in the US are due to get the digital number plates by early 2018. The rPlate has been approved only in California yet. Most of the vehicles bearing these will be commercial and fleet vehicles.
The rPlate is a self-lit anti-reflective LCD screen that is only 1-inch thick. The license plate is powered by a lithium-ion battery that recharges itself when the car is moving. The same display can be used for advertising or flashing messages when parked.
There are no details on the price of the license plate yet, but it sure solves a million problems with the sticker system, parking meters, parking location, location tracking, and a lot more. Perhaps, the license plate in the future will be used for flashing messages to other drivers. Who knows?!