Green number plates

[MrBadger]

From the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association:

WHAT SIZE AND COLOUR IS THE GREEN FLASH?​

The green flash should be:

• colour Pantone 7481c or very similar
• between 40 and 50 millimetres in width
• retroreflective for 24 hour visibility

Thanks for that (my bold)

For benefit of others, here is the original source Confirmed: Green Plates from 8th December - BNMA

I think that about wraps it up. The green flash must be retroreflective. Some plate manufactures are not supplying plates, or material that meet this requirement.

If you are not sure if your green flash is retroreflective, take a flash (no pun intended) photo in the dark. If it show up dark, as below, its not retroreflective.

 

[MrBadger]

I can also confirm that our originally supplied Tesla plates (Sep 2019) were based upon Hills plates too.

For those wanting to identify their plate provenance, the plate material manufacturer seems to be identifiable by the logo/code (close to the bsau standard) in the bottom right of the plate - this is different to the plate supplier whose info can often be found in the bottom middle of the plate.

I'm pretty sure the Green plates I bought from Halfords in January this year are Hills plates as they share what I believe is the Hills logo i.e. HHSP (followed by the 'bsau145d' code) in a rounded black box (see pic below). My original Tesla plates also look to be Hills plates as they have this logo. And the green flash on the Halfords plates is retroreflective.

View attachment 644974

 

[MrBadger]

I queried this with my plate supplier and they refunded my order without quibble. They said that they would look into it as they agreed that they should be retroreflective. imho, the issue is with the materials used and the companies making up the plates use those materials in good faith expecting them to meet the specification.

If you have a plate that does not meet spec, purchased from a number plate supplier registered at Find your nearest number plate supplier and are not happy with what was supplied, I would raise the concern and ask for it to be remedied or a refund.

follow up - ukregplates mention in some previous posts are aware of the issue and are proactively trying to resolve.

A further follow up - this issue is now fully resolved - see Green number plates

 

[nxsynjs]

My gut feel, based on the above is that the green flash is still too new to get an assured 100% legal one made up with the GB logo on the green flash. It also seems too new to get any tangible benefit from having it. I have a personal plate ready to put on, but i am leaning towards getting a blue badge as per normal until the green one is more widely supported?

 

[UrbanSplash]

I can’t seem to find anywhere online to buy these plates that guarantee they meet the legal spec. Halfords website advises to go in to order them, but that’s not possible currently. Anyone managed to get ones with reflective green strips ? Also can’t see any with green just ‘GB’

 

[MrBadger]

Fingers crossed, third time lucky. Watch this space.

 

[dbartram]

What about an add-on green strip? Surely no need to replace the entire plate...

 

[UrbanSplash]

What about an add-on green strip? Surely no need to replace the entire plate...

Not sure on the legality of sticking things to plates. Could you even get reflective tape to the required colour? To be fair I’m only bothering to change mine as I need a numberplate for a bike rack anyway.

 

[dbartram]

Not sure on the legality of sticking things to plates. Could you even get reflective tape to the required colour? To be fair I’m only bothering to change mine as I need a numberplate for a bike rack anyway.

I'm thinking someone with entrepreneurial drive and the required technical knowledge could produce something that meets the specified standards (including reflectivity). It's not hard to see a potential market. But yes, it would need to be legal.

 

[MrBadger]

Fingers crossed, third time lucky. Watch this space.

Ta da....

Courtesy of Joe at ukregplates who went above and beyond to resolve the issue of the non retroreflective green flash. I don't know what the issue was but I believe that the previous set of plates were supplied in good faith and the issue was outside their control.

In normal light the green looks slightly darker which I much prefer. The 'black' border here is actually green in daylight matching the EV flash. Its just under flash light the green border is not retroreflective which is as intended. The feint horizontal mark, lower part of the green flash will be on the protective film that I have yet to remove.

For anyone ordering EV green flash plates, it may be prudent to enter into direct correspondence with the supplier prior to ordering to ensure that you are confident that you know exactly what you are to receive. This is especially true if ordering more than a basic plate with green flash - mine had a border and GB symbol. I believe that the issue with non retroreflective green flash plates is potentially quite a widespread issue and there are many variations of features, symbols and formats.

It is also important to note that acrylic plates such as the above may be too thick to fit in the standard Tesla number plate holder. For those, aluminum plates may be needed and I have given details of plates based upon the 'Hills' supplied system in this post - Green number plates

 

[UrbanSplash]

Ta da....

View attachment 649668

Courtesy of Joe at ukregplates who went above and beyond to resolve the issue of the non retroreflective green flash. I don't know what the issue was but I believe that the previous set of plates were supplied in good faith and the issue was outside their control.

In normal light the green looks slightly darker which I much prefer. The 'black' border here is actually green in daylight matching the EV flash. Its just under flash light the green border is not retroreflective which is as intended.

For anyone ordering EV green flash plates, it may be prudent to enter into direct correspondence with the supplier prior to ordering to ensure that you are confident that you know exactly what you are to receive. This is especially true if ordering more than a basic plate with green flash - mine had a border and GB symbol. I believe that the issue with non retroreflective green flash plates is potentially quite a widespread issue and there are many variations of features, symbols and formats.

Many thanks. No way to purchase direct online?

 

[interbear]

So is this green flash on EV plates optional or mandatory? Will existing EV owners need to change plates or is it only new EVs? And what exactly is the purpose of it, any benefits to EV owners? For example, a long stretch of the M4 through Newport is permanently 50mph for pollution / emissions reasons primarily. My Model 3 is of course zero emissions so it would surely be fair for me to keep going at 70mph (ish). That seems reasonable to me. Although I support Rangers, so would rather have no green on my car at all I’m sure many EV and hybrid manufacturers used the colour blue to brand their environmentally friendlier vehicles originally - VW etc. This would clearly be a far better choice

 

[MrBadger]

Many thanks. No way to purchase direct online?

I started my order online but because I had some specific requirements (at that point the GB was not an option) I entered into communication with them just to get clarification on a number of things before hitting buy as mine at that point was effectively a custom order.

I think all the while these plates are so new, it makes sense just to double check things with the plate supplier as in my communication with several and hardware suppliers, there is no consistent approach as to what exact format you will get. eg with ukregplates, the shape/size of my green flash changed between first plates supplied (which matches what is currently shown on their website) and the last. I guess its down to how specific you want the plate to be - I have a design background so these things can be important to me.

 

[MrBadger]

So is this green flash on EV plates optional or mandatory? Will existing EV owners need to change plates or is it only new EVs? And what exactly is the purpose of it, any benefits to EV owners?

Its totally optional but provides an easy way to identify EV both visually and electronically (if your green flash is retroreflective) which may open up possibilities for EV vehicles to get some benefits, eg easy access to EV charging areas in a car park.

tbh, I wouldn't have bothered had we not just changed our registration. Whilst we had some legacy plates that we could use, I was looking at a single plate for our bike rack so buying a matching green pair instead made sense.

 

[init6]

So is this green flash on EV plates optional or mandatory? Will existing EV owners need to change plates or is it only new EVs? And what exactly is the purpose of it, any benefits to EV owners? For example, a long stretch of the M4 through Newport is permanently 50mph for pollution / emissions reasons primarily. My Model 3 is of course zero emissions so it would surely be fair for me to keep going at 70mph (ish). That seems reasonable to me. Although I support Rangers, so would rather have no green on my car at all I’m sure many EV and hybrid manufacturers used the colour blue to brand their environmentally friendlier vehicles originally - VW etc. This would clearly be a far better choice

They're mandatory on the M8 between junctions 23 & 24.




I've got a blue car with green flashes - hedging my bets in Glasgow

 

[init6]

Hey @interbear fancy these plates?

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/mhxwgv

 

[interbear]

Hey @interbear fancy these plates?

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/mhxwgv

Yep. That’s better

 

[UrbanSplash]

Ok so here is the standard plate from Halfords. It’s actually the thin metal type, exactly the same as the ones supplied by Tesla. Fits in the frames perfectly. No nonsense. No borders. No logos or badges. Just green and letters.

 

[btc1k]

Ok so here is the standard plate from Halfords. It’s actually the thin metal type, exactly the same as the ones supplied by Tesla. Fits in the frames perfectly. No nonsense. No borders. No logos or badges. Just green and letters. View attachment 652010
View attachment 652011

And a little hidden halfords logo?

 

[ParHunter]

My Tesla came with a green number plate but I am thinking of getting one for my Leaf but I haven’t seen a single benefit of green number plates yet. Has anyone seen any local authority that is actually offering benefits?
For the London congestion charge you still have to register and pay your £10/year.
So at the moment - what is the point?