California DMV - Plates & HOV Stickers

[derekt75]

In case anyone else was waiting a long time for their stickers too:

Received car: 12/23
Received plates: around 1/17 and immediately submitted my request for HOV stickers
DMV cashed check: 3/13

So hopefully will have my stickers next week.

I wonder how I got ahead of you.

Received car: 12/31
Received plates: around 1/21 and immediately submitted my request for HOV stickers
DMV cashed check: 3/6
Received stickers: 3/11

One minor annoyance is that after you put everything in the mail, you don't hear anything for a while. If your application/check got lost in the mail, you'd lose two months.


On a related note, the Clean Vehicle Rebate check went something like:
Online preliminary application: 1/15
email notification that application was received: 1/15
email notification that money was reserved: 1/21
complete application sent by regular mail: 1/21
email notification that complete application was approved: 2/7
check printed dated: 2/21
check arrived: 3/2


It amuses me how much chatter there was for the rebate check, and how little communication there was for the HOV lane stickers.

 

[mdh]

Anyone putting HOV stickers in the windows?

More generally, has anyone gotten pulled over or ticketed for present but improperly placed HOV stickers?

I placed one (taped) in rear window. But, I am only three weeks into it. Is it just a fix it ticket?

 

[Elshout]

I'm afraid to put the HOV stickers on the car for two reasons: (1) the are uglier than hell, and (2) I'm afraid I'd never get the off once they expire. I like mdh's idea of taping one to the back window but I think I will instead use the left rear seat rearmost window.

 

[tdiggity]

I'm afraid to put the HOV stickers on the car for two reasons: (1) the are uglier than hell, and (2) I'm afraid I'd never get the off once they expire. I like mdh's idea of taping one to the back window but I think I will instead use the left rear seat rearmost window.

You can ask a clear bra / window tint place to help you place them. Put the stickers on the clear bra and it'll be easy to remove.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

It amuses me how much chatter there was for the rebate check, and how little communication there was for the HOV lane stickers.

That's the good ol' CA DMV in Sacramento for you. The CVRP program is administered by a completely separate body (constituted by the California Air Resources Board) down in San Diego and they are far more efficient.

I applied for the HOV decals in mid-February (after I put the custom plates on) and I have another month to go before I (hopefully!) see the decals. It hurts to crawl down 101 South at 5:30 pm in the peninsula while seeing all the Leafs, Volts, PiPriuses and the occasional Model S whiz by in the carpool lane.

I'm definitely using Lyle's services at Vinyl Styles, San Carlos again to apply the HOV decals on bits of paint armor.

 

[mdh]

I'm afraid to put the HOV stickers on the car for two reasons: (1) the are uglier than hell, and (2) I'm afraid I'd never get the off once they expire. I like mdh's idea of taping one to the back window but I think I will instead use the left rear seat rearmost window.

Not a huge issue to remove... I did it on my prius... blow dryer.

 

[mrbry]

You can ask a clear bra / window tint place to help you place them. Put the stickers on the clear bra and it'll be easy to remove.

I did exactly this today at Protective Film Solutions down in Santa Ana. They did my full body Xpel Ultimate coverage and window tint a few months ago. Ryan at PFS used spare 3M vinyl wrap stuff to put the stickers on. Apparently the adhesive on that is a bit waffled so it comes off cleanly from my Xpel armor when it needs to come off in 2015.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

... when it needs to come off in 2015.

I'm hoping that it is renewed at that time...

 

[mrbry]

I'm hoping that it is renewed at that time...

Do you feel strongly about that? I feel it'll probably go away as planned due to some level of saturation of EVs by then. But I won't complain if it gets extended .

 

[tdiggity]

Picked up car on 2/26
Received plates on 3/18

Now waiting for white stickers.....

 

[spatterso911]

Picked up car 1/27
Received plates on 2/15

DMV has yet to cash the check...

 

[wraithnot]

Do you feel strongly about that? I feel it'll probably go away as planned due to some level of saturation of EVs by then. But I won't complain if it gets extended .

I'm betting the white stickers will get extended, but the green stickers will not. This is based on a) wishful thinking, b) the fact that they wouldn't have bothered to make different colored stickers if they didn't plan to treat them differently at some point, and c) I see a bunch of green stickers on the roads, but very few white stickers.

 

[gsxrex]

I'm betting the white stickers will get extended, but the green stickers will not. This is based on a) wishful thinking, b) the fact that they wouldn't have bothered to make different colored stickers if they didn't plan to treat them differently at some point, and c) I see a bunch of green stickers on the roads, but very few white stickers.

There was an article earlier this year that they've distributed less than 25% of the 40k available green stickers. Not sure if this is because sales are low for the PHEV, people just don't know about it, or they just plain forgot. So if it continues at this rate, even the green stickers might be extended.

Article for reference:
Plenty of green carpool stickers remain available - San Jose Mercury News

The stats at the bottom are interesting:
Green stickers for plug-in hybrids: 9,022. Limit: 40,000. Expire: Jan. 1, 2015
White stickers for electric vehicles and those running on alternative fuels: 21,770. Limit: None. Expire: Jan. 1, 2015.
Yellow stickers for hybrids: 85,000. Ended July 1, 2011.

That's a far cry from the 30 million registered cars in CA.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

The stretch that I care about - 101 between Palo Alto and Redwood City - seems to have achieved some level of saturation already with a fair number of Leafs, green-sticker Volts and now, increasingly Model S (mostly Sigs right now still while the rest of us are waiting for the white stickers) in the carpool lane. The lane itself is not as fast as it used to be partly because of all the non-real-carpool single-rider EVs.

So, yes to extending white, no to extending green

 

[strider]

The stretch that I care about - 101 between Palo Alto and Redwood City - seems to have achieved some level of saturation already with a fair number of Leafs, green-sticker Volts and now, increasingly Model S (mostly Sigs right now still while the rest of us are waiting for the white stickers) in the carpool lane. The lane itself is not as fast as it used to be partly because of all the non-real-carpool single-rider EVs.

So, yes to extending white, no to extending green

Well, it's no different than when the yellow hybrid stickers were in use. I drive the same stretch (237 to Ralston) and I blame all the damn Google and Facebook buses. I realize they are efficient as they carry tons of people and they are what the carpool lane was meant for but they only go 5mph or so above the non carpool traffic (they can't stop quickly and people tend to dart into the carpool lane - we don't have the separated lanes like in SoCal) which really hurts the efficiency of the carpool lanes. We already have trains that run and and down the peninsula, just provide shuttle buses from people's homes to the train and train to campus.

 

[markb1]

The DMV finally cashed my check. Mailed on 2/19, posted to my bank account today (4/4).

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

The DMV finally cashed my check. Mailed on 2/19, posted to my bank account today (4/4).

Yup, same here. The decals are hopefully no more than a week away.

 

[BCLi]

Just was informed today that Tesla no longer processing and sending checks/applications to DMV, so if you did go through the delivery specialist, you have not gotten your sticker, and the DMV hasn't cashed your check, it may be because it was never sent in. My DS confirmed for me that it wasn't sent in, and that I would need to go through the DMV. For those interested, here's the link to the form:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg1000.pdf

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Tesla stopped processing the HOV applications a long time ago, at least a few days before I picked mine up on December 23rd.

I received my stickers about 3 weeks ago, but need to find some scraps of PPF, or I might just mount mine in the rear window and see if I can get away with it. There were zero mounting instructions included with mine, wonder if the judge will take that as a reason not to have them on the bumper?

 

[MikeC]

I placed one (taped) in rear window. But, I am only three weeks into it. Is it just a fix it ticket?

I don't think it's a fix-it, I think if anything they would ticket you for violating the law as if you were any other unqualified car. I like that mcornwell didn't get instructions, that sounds like a good excuse to me...any traffic lawyers with a Model S on here yet?

My check was cashed April 1 and don't have them yet. I was looking at the rear window and it seems like the angle would have the sticker pointing up at an angle that's hard to see. I am thinking the little rearmost triangle of the right rear window might be a good spot for one.