Clean Air Vehicle stickers

[Jaff]

We've got the QEW (Freeway) HOV lanes going now from Burlington to Oakville...it's a little weird flying by 3 lanes of stopped traffic at 120 kph...I'm a little afraid that someone in the stopped "fast" lane will blow a gasket (a la Michael Douglas) & cut into the HOV lane in front of me! :scared:

I just noticed today that they finally put up the "Green Vehicle" signs on the highway 417 HOV lane in west Ottawa.

Right now the Tesla and the electric smart car are the only vehicles that qualify for the green plates in Ontario. As far as I'm aware you can't actually get an electric Smart yet, and there are only two Tesla Roadsters in town. That means I'm one of two people who can actually use it.

Unfortunately it's a route I drive about once a month, never at rush hour, and rarely by myself...

 

[Doug_G]

That's great that you can use it! How long has it been in effect? Have you been stopped by a cop, who didn't realize you had green plates?

 

[Jaff]

The QEW HOV lane opened in Nov / 10, a few weeks before my Roadster arrived...like you, I really only use it about 1-2 times month...there are no HOV lanes in Niagara yet!:frown:

The second time I used the HOV lane, I was pulled over...the officer admitted that he hadn't picked up on the green plate, and said it was the first one he'd ever seen...we both had a laugh over it...how about you?

That's great that you can use it! How long has it been in effect? Have you been stopped by a cop, who didn't realize you had green plates?

 

[markwj]

Interesting reading this thread, and to hear about the incentive of "Green Vehicles" using the HOB lanes on highways in USA and Canada.

Here in Hong Kong, you can't legally drive an electric vehicle on the highway at all, without a special permit (which is a pain to get and renew every year)! The legislation here mandates 125cc engine capacity to drive on the highway, and as EVs have 0cc, they are not permitted (without the special permits issued on a case-by-case basis).

I guess they were trying to keep the golf carts off the highway, but the situation is ludicrous.

 

[Doug_G]

The only times I've had the opportunity to try it I had a passenger. I'm thinking of going for a spin just to try it out. :biggrin:

 

[Jaff]

It's fun, but pay attention to the "stopped traffic" in the "fast" regular lane...you can almost feel the heat from those driver's (frustrated / angry / jealous) foreheads as you zoom by...:biggrin::biggrin::wink:

I must be very tempting to the mono gassers to say **** it, and pull into the clear HOV lane to rack up some miles...

You never need a reason to go for a spin, do ya? :wink::biggrin:

The only times I've had the opportunity to try it I had a passenger. I'm thinking of going for a spin just to try it out. :biggrin:

 

[doug]

Virginia Hybrid Car HOV Perk Is Tied to Police Budget | Hybrid Cars

Last week, Virginia passed yet another extension of its hybrid HOV law, which gives drivers of “clean fuel” vehicles access to the commonwealth's carpool lanes. The law has been extended annually since its original expiration date in 2006—even as the state's HOV lanes (and hybrid sales) swell. Could the extensions have anything to do with the fact that, with every registration for access, $15 goes to the state police's “HOV Enforcement Fund?"

 

[Doug_G]

You never need a reason to go for a spin, do ya? :wink::biggrin:

Merest of excuses. So I went out to Kanata today and drove back in the HOV lane. Probably the first time it's ever been used by a plated Green Vehicle. Being a stat holiday it would have been just as fast in any other lane, but what the heck.

 

[Jaff]

It's the principle, eh? :wink::biggrin:

 

[TEG]

CA Green Carpool stickers for plug-in Prius in 2012...

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

Green Clean Air Vehicle Stickers pending federal approval will be available as of January 1, 2012 and will be valid through January 1, 2015 to the first 40,000 applicants that purchase or lease cars meeting California's enhanced advanced technology partial zero emission vehicle (AT PZEV) requirements. Vehicles qualifying for this new sticker will be added to this website, however applications for the new sticker will only be accepted once the program begins on January 1, 2012. Qualifying vehicles purchased before the program begins WILL be eligible to receive the green decals.

So yellow is retired soon, white is the only thing for the 2nd half of 2011, then the green ones start to come in too.

 

[strider]

Yeah, GM spent a BUNDLE lobbying for this so Volt owners could use the HOV lanes.

 

[doug]

With carpool perk ending for hybrids, some owners are trading up - San Jose Mercury News

 

[JoshG]

This thread has been quiet for a while. Anyone care to report more details on if they've had trouble or not with putting the HOV sticker on the rear window? Are CHP just now familiar enough with Tesla's to leave them alone in the HOV lane? I'm dreading putting the sticker on my car, but i'll commute daily in my roadster in the HOV lane.

 

[bonnie]

I have the stickers on the car & was pulled over on Monday (Sacramento area) for driving in the HOV lane. The CHP officer thought all stickers had expired - he now knows better.

I have the small one, as shown on the instructions, on the front of the car, passenger side. I didn't understand why that position, but my mode of operation always is 'don't break the small rules, it will make it more difficult to talk your way out of the big rules you break'. But after multiple times of passing an officer with his motorcycle parked in a curve of the HOV lane (always the Bay area), standing and watching cars with his radio in hand, I realize that's the easiest place for them to see the sticker. The rear window placement would have done me no good.

On the other hand, there are those like vfx, who have had no problem with it in the rear window.

If you do put them on your car, put them on Starshield or a similar paint protection film. Then you won't have to think about that adhesive on your paint.

 

[doug]

I have the stickers on the car & was pulled over on Monday (Sacramento area) for driving in the HOV lane. The CHP officer thought all stickers had expired - he now knows better.

Yeah, I was gonna say with the yellow sticker program ending, enforcement will be up. I heard several stories of Priuses getting pulled over on July 1st.

Tougher Criteria for Hybrids, Slower Commutes for Bay Area Drivers - The Bay Citizen

There is no grace period for solo drivers with expired stickers, Jaime Coffee, spokeswoman for the CHP, said. A solo hybrid driver caught in the carpool lane is subject to the treatment as everyone else -- a $341 minimum fine. Though a ticket can be issued by law, Coffee said there's a chance an officer might be more understanding during the first few days of enforcement.

“Tickets are issued at discretion,” Coffee said. “By law, an officer can cite you. If an officer chooses to give a warning, they can.”

In 2010, the CHP's division in the Bay Area issued almost 17,000 carpool lane violations, the highest in the state.

 

[vfx]

Yeah, I was gonna say with the yellow sticker program ending, enforcement will be up. I heard several stories of Priuses getting pulled over on July 1st...

Cause the Roadster looks just like the Prius. We have one of each and I confuse them all the time!

 

[smorgasbord]

a $341 minimum fine. ... In 2010, the CHP's division in the Bay Area issued almost 17,000 carpool lane violations...

That's $5.8 million dollars - minimum. And that's not even the whole state. Whatever the costs involved with enforcement are, I'm sure this is a nice moneymaker for the state.

 

[doug]

Cause the Roadster looks just like the Prius. We have one of each and I confuse them all the time!

Just saying the cops will be paying extra attention, even if you have stickers.

 

[strider]

I'm not sure if it's the holiday week or what but my commute has been MUCH easier this week. It's been really hard for me not to wave at hybrids in the non-HOV lanes as I breeze past

I have the small one, as shown on the instructions, on the front of the car, passenger side. I didn't understand why that position, but my mode of operation always is 'don't break the small rules, it will make it more difficult to talk your way out of the big rules you break'. But after multiple times of passing an officer with his motorcycle parked in a curve of the HOV lane (always the Bay area), standing and watching cars with his radio in hand, I realize that's the easiest place for them to see the sticker. The rear window placement would have done me no good.

On the other hand, there are those like vfx, who have had no problem with it in the rear window.

If you do put them on your car, put them on Starshield or a similar paint protection film. Then you won't have to think about that adhesive on your paint.

Bonnie, my instructions said to put the small one on the rear of the car. But I see a lot of the hybrids had the small one on the front. Maybe there were different sets of instructions? http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=811&d=1279297496

So here's what I did:

+1 for putting them onto paint armor so when they do expire you can easily remove them.

 

[vfx]

...97496[/url]

So here's what I did:
View attachment 2104....

It's been pointed out the the one on the right is all the police really need.