I’ve been driving the same commute for the past 10 years and the last 14 months was with a Tesla that has an EL plate. Last week I received a letter from the Illinois Tollway accusing me of 3 toll violations. One in April and 2 in July.
I called them to dispute and they seemed to know what the problem is already. The lady said it happens to EVs from time to time. They dismissed the violations ($20 each + toll at cash price) but still asked me to pay the cash rate which is double the IPass rate.
The problem according to them is that, when I added the Tesla to my account, I’ve chosen the wrong plate type. I chose “passenger” and entered my plate number for example “99999 EL”. EL plate is NOT an option on their website so I’d automatically assume it’s a passenger plate.
The toll I missed is only $3 at cast rate but I still disputed it because I had a valid account and a working transponder at the time, and the fact that there’s no EL plate for me to choose at time of adding my vehicle. They wouldn’t budge and I didn’t pursue further since it’s only $3.
BOTTOM LINE: My fellow Illinois EV owners, if you drive a Tesla or any EV for that matter, in your IPass account you need to choose “Other - None of the above” as the plate type, and then call them to make sure they put note on it saying this is an EV. Yes they expect us to do that even though there’re no clear instructions of this anywhere. Some of you might never have this problem but it’s just a precaution. I spent an hour on the phone with them to clear this up!