Coated windshield impacting door openers and EZpass

[Electric Machete]

I placed the gate pass for my development just lateral to the rear view window stalk on the passenger's side. I kind of tucked it up under the fabric of the roof amongst the little black dots that are on the top of the windshield. The gate pass works fine. It is an RFID chip on a little sticker. I have had no issues.

I was optimistic given this revelation that my SunPass would also work, but it does not. I placed it just below the gate pass and lateral to the rear view mirror stalk. I am using SunPass mini. It is essentially an RFID enclosed in a sticker that once removed from a windshield becomes unusable. Great for theft protection, not so great for trying out placement. Since my plate is registered with Sunpass it will simply charge me based upon my plate, but it is pretty annoying knowing that if I hit any toll plaza's that have a gate, I will probably get stuck. Unless it is an issue with speed. When I approach my gate at home, I am completely stopped. I go through the SunPass plazas usually around 30-40 MPH.

 

[Robert.Boston]

FWIW, my EZPass is mounted on the dotted-black area to the passenger side of the rear-view mirror mount. I've had no problems with it registering while traveling at speed through toll plazas.

 

[brianman]

I saw an early signature car, and I have looked at my car. The windshields are slightly different. With that let me lay out a few points.

ElSupreme, can you find or create a wiki to make note of these Sig vs. Prod differences? A year from now (and in the future) I'm sure many of us will want a comprehensive list of the known differences.

 

[fmatteson]

I originally posted my question under another topic and it was moved here, but still haven't seen an answer from any California Bay Area folks about their FasTrak pass. I've tried below the rear view mirror as some have suggested with no luck. I"ve tried on the left side, etc. All that seems to work is holding it out the window. Which is fine for the 'slow" tolls, but the fast tolls mean that your are holding your hand out the window at 60 mph. Anyone else had any luck?

 

[contaygious]

I am in sf and hold it to the right and in front of the rear view mirror with no issues. The little black spot that is marked works at the golden gate. I don't mount the big ugly pass though. I hold it up each time and then out it back into my shelf.

 

[SSher]

For you Illinois owners, I called IDOT and for $10 they sent me a License Plate Transponder that I have placed on the top of my front plate. Works great and I don't have to look at the White iPass on my windshield. 1-800-824-7277.

 

[mattjs33]

For you Illinois owners, I called IDOT and for $10 they sent me a License Plate Transponder that I have placed on the top of my front plate. Works great and I don't have to look at the White iPass on my windshield. 1-800-824-7277.

You don't even need the transponder in the car. In fact you don't need it at all.*

If you go through an iPass lane without the equipment detecting a transponder, it will record your plate and run it against the database of iPass registered vehicles. Once they find your registered plate on your account, they will deduct the appropriate amount from your account automatically. The people at iPass told me this themselves.

I have one transponder for my seven licensed vehicles. My wife and I used to transfer it to whichever vehicle we were going to be driving, but we haven't bothered in years. No tickets, no fines. And I don't think there's any limit to the number of vehicles you can add onto one account.


*The "deposit" you pay for the transponder is money that goes directly to line the pockets of the officials at the Illinois Tollway Association. That's how things are done here. Home of the most corrupt government system in the country, mentors of our esteemed President.

 

[KenEE]

@KenEE, I tried multiple locations on my windshield with the EZTag without success and even went through multiple different tags. Ended up having to get a front license plate mount and open the pano roof to get into my parking garage at work, big time pain. Would be really interested in where exactly you mounted your EZTag....

One thing you might want to know is that the test run at the EZTag store only lights up Yellow, NOT Green, on success. I went through a few times and only got Yellow so I held my tag up through the pano and still got Yellow. So I went in and talked to the guy who told me Yellow is good.

I was able to have a successful reading anywhere on the windshield including right in front of my face and any random place I tried. (I even got success just laying the tag in the cubby! )

I settled on putting it right where Tesla recommends in the picture I posted earlier in the thread.

Haven't had any troubles since going through "real" stations.

 

[sp4rk]

You don't even need the transponder in the car. In fact you don't need it at all.*

If you go through an iPass lane without the equipment detecting a transponder, it will record your plate and run it against the database of iPass registered vehicles. Once they find your registered plate on your account, they will deduct the appropriate amount from your account automatically. The people at iPass told me this themselves.

Thanks for that!

 

[DJ Frustration]

Under "Activity" go to "Advanced Search" and filter on "Image Toll".

I did but I only get the details and option for a receipt, which just shows the details. Can't find anywhere with the actual photo. Am I missing something?

 

[CarlE_P439]

People may know this already, but given the delay in getting our license plates (6 weeks now for me) it is worth mentioning that EZ pass cannot read your EZ Pass tag unless you actually have a license plate (takes a picture of your license plate and scans your tag at the same time). When I went through EZ Pass (with new tag but no plates), there was a yellow light that said something I can't remember. I did not receive any violation notice and as far as I know I was not charged anything (only did this once) and stopped at the cash lanes the rest of my journey.

 

[aviators99]

I did but I only get the details and option for a receipt, which just shows the details. Can't find anywhere with the actual photo. Am I missing something?

You must be. I just tried again. After you select "image toll" you have to click search. Maybe you missed that?

 

[eelton]

Just got my car..

I tried my parking transponder at work today, moving out all around the supposedly uncoated area of the windshield. It didn't work. I had to open the window and hold it over the roof (the receiver is overhead). Very frustrating.

sent via Tapatalk

 

[Elshout]

You get a free pass, at least in California. I usually place my FasTrak California on top of the dash but 3 times I've gone over the Golden Gate Bridge without paying as my FasTrak was not read. Will try placing it right below the mirror mount.

 

[MikeK]

Crossed the Bay Bridge on Sunday night, with my transponder held in the "dotted" area next to the mirror mount. It did not register. :-( Next time, I guess I'll try it just below the mirror mount.

If that fails, next time I'll try holding it up to the panoramic roof, with the roof closed.

I don't use the EZ Pass often enough that I'm especially worried about it, but it's annoying.

 

[dashrb]

I was inspecting my own (VIN 03751) windshield and comparing it to an October vehicle, and our windshields are different. His solid black region near the mirror is symmetric, but mine is not--the passenger side has black dots rather than a solid black region. However, my coating covers this black-dotted region, so there is nowhere for my EZPass to be located. How many different windshield configurations are there?

 

[MikeK]

Has anybody tried a California FasTrak transponder up against the sunroof glass?

I'm also trying to get a good understanding of the FasTrak requirements for EVs -- I remember that there was a bunch of complication regarding HOV lanes, carpool hours, bridges and so forth, and now there's the added complication of the HOT lanes. In some cases, do you still need to either shield the transponder or set a switch on it to indicate that you're a carpool? If not, then I'll pursue remote-mounting a transponder behind my nosecone.

 

[brianman]

... VIN 03751... How many different windshield configurations are there?

Perhaps 3751?

 

[ahimberg]

Yesterday I crossed 520 twice, holding my front plate pass to the upper windshield a little below the rear view mirror. It registered going east but not west.
Put the front plate pass onto my front plate frame today (no plates yet), I assume that will have 100% recognition but didn't cross today.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Has anybody tried a California FasTrak transponder up against the sunroof glass?

I'm also trying to get a good understanding of the FasTrak requirements for EVs -- I remember that there was a bunch of complication regarding HOV lanes, carpool hours, bridges and so forth, and now there's the added complication of the HOT lanes. In some cases, do you still need to either shield the transponder or set a switch on it to indicate that you're a carpool? If not, then I'll pursue remote-mounting a transponder behind my nosecone.

No pano roof here so, can't answer that. Still having to stick the transponder out the window through the ~50 mph carpool lane of the Dumbarton Bridge. By the way, had to go through the 25 mph regular FasTrak lane (with a narrower canopy than the carpool one) of the same toll plaza the other day (with no passenger) and tried the transponder on the spotted area to the right of the mirror stem and it beeped just fine! So, the speed and/or proximity of the sensors in the canopy may have something to do with it too.

Regarding requirements, an EV is equivalent to a carpool even when driving solo and both have to use the transponder or (occasionally) rely on the plates being recognized through bridge toll plazas. The same carpool hours apply. You do have to "hide" the transponder in the HOT lanes (such as 237) and you can ride in them solo with the HOV decals; an external transponder would put you at a disadvantage here.