How to mount FasTrak transponder non-destructively

[alankanczes]

Be warned. If you have a FastTrak flex, they will register your vehicle by the license plate. You can know this by looking at your statement -- the license plate is listed instead of the transponder number. If your transponder is not beeping, then you are being charged as if you are a single person in the vehicle. Since Teslas have metallized oxide windshields, you will not be able to keep them inside of the car behind the windshield. FastTrak does offer externally mounted version -- a thinner black transponder mounted above the license plate using the license plate screws.

I now have to request a refund for the two months of bills I have since they activated tolls on our express lanes.

 

[Ollie Jones]

Tesla models are marked as needing external (front license plate) toll tags.

https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/routers/Vehicles_with_Metal_Oxide_Windshields.html

Sure enough, this east coaster needs a front license plate EZ Pass transponder. But, some primitive EZPass locations (like the Newburgh NY bridge over the Hudson River) can't read transponders in that location. So always carry a handful of quarters in case you get stuck at a toll booth.

 

[bmah]

Be warned. If you have a FastTrak flex, they will register your vehicle by the license plate. You can know this by looking at your statement -- the license plate is listed instead of the transponder number. If your transponder is not beeping, then you are being charged as if you are a single person in the vehicle. Since Teslas have metallized oxide windshields, you will not be able to keep them inside of the car behind the windshield. FastTrak does offer externally mounted version -- a thinner black transponder mounted above the license plate using the license plate screws.

I now have to request a refund for the two months of bills I have since they activated tolls on our express lanes.

There's a fair amount of confusion on this because Teslas have had different windshield configurations over the years. Case in point, my April 2015 build S85D had a windshield with a metallic coating that passed nothing at all, so I ended up putting the FasTrak transceiver on the rear liftgate glass (which seemed to work everywhere except airport parking garages). After a windshield crack necessitated a complete windshield replacement last year, I ended up with a windshield with no coating just to the right side of the rearview mirror, and I was able to move my transceiver to an upside position on the windshield glass. Works everywhere including bridges, express lanes, and airport garages.

It really depends on the car.

Bruce.