Virginia purchase specific tips: re tax, trade-in, HPWC install, Clean fuel plate etc

[cmu5p]

Thank you for sharing your DMV experience- gave me a better idea what to expect when I did it today. Here's mine:


Got titled, registered and tagged today at Staunton DMV. Less painful than anticipated.

Got tesla paperwork Monday, 10days after taking delivery. Arrived DMV 10mins before opening and there were already 12 or so people in line outside. Waited about 35mins until my number was called. 20mins at the window. All they needed was stuff tesla sent (you have to fill in the blanks and sign). Asked about "clean fuel" plates and she said only available from Richmond (I think I knew that). Main perk is use of HOV lanes on 66 which I don't need. Paid taxes by credit card.

Aside from the wait (made slightly uncomfortable by clientele reminiscent of an ER shift), it was actually pretty painless.

Now to overcome the travesty of having to put a state inspection sticker on the windshield..........

ps- forgot to mention- DMV website publishes current wait times if you care to check before going.

 

[Habious]

Asked about "clean fuel" plates and she said only available from Richmond (I think I knew that). Main perk is use of HOV lanes on 66 which I don't need.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case (unless you already have 5+ year old Clean Special Fuel plates that you can transfer/grandfather in).

According the the Virginia DMV website - "Exempts the vehicle from the occupancy requirements of any HOV lanes except those in the I-95/395 corridor and I-66 corridor."

 

[cmu5p]

Well, BOO to that.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case (unless you already have 5+ year old Clean Special Fuel plates that you can transfer/grandfather in).

According the the Virginia DMV website - "Exempts the vehicle from the occupancy requirements of any HOV lanes except those in the I-95/395 corridor and I-66 corridor."

 

[andrewket]

I highly recommend using a DMV "select" location for title and registration. They can only perform a limited set of transactions and as a result the lines are much shorter. Last time I went there was NO line. I was done in 3 minutes.

 

[iadbound]

I highly recommend using a DMV "select" location for title and registration. They can only perform a limited set of transactions and as a result the lines are much shorter. Last time I went there was NO line. I was done in 3 minutes.

Good tip. Unfortunately, when I went I was headed to the office, and the Tysons DMV is on the way -- if a bit slow.

 

[bhzmark]

update:

a few tips:
1) don't go to one of the main DMVs that also process drivers licenses (Leesburg, 4 mile Rd etc.) -- for just license plates and vehicle registration and titling work just go to one of the many DMV select offices. I went to the Arlington one on Clarendon Rd and there was zero line.
2) my original style clean fuel plates were very old and I wanted to get fresh ones (but still the old style to use 66 and 395) to xfer to the Tesla. It was very easy. I simply emailed "plates*AT*dmv.virginia.gov" a completed Form VSA 10 with the $10.00 replacement fee paid by credit card -- can also fax it to 1-804-367-6379. Within a week I rec'd fresh plates in the old style. 3) I took the Tesla Bill of Sale paperwork and the new hybrid regisrtation for the other car to the DMV select and in about 10 minutes they:
A) collected the sales tax on the Tesla by credit card
B) titled and registered the Tesla
C) xfered the replacement clean fuel plates from old car to the Tesla
It was surprisingly painless and efficient.

I decided not to use a Dominion Virginia alterntive rate schedule because the car charging won't amount to much and most electricity usage will be te home A/C during the day and early evening.

 

[chickensevil]

Hopefully the DMV process will be a lot easier now that they can sell in VA.

if you drive a normal 12k miles a year, you are likely to see your power usage go up by about 125-150% (depending on what your current usage looks like)

if you drive more like I do at 24k a year your usage will likely be 175-200%.

unless you can't charge overnight for some specific reason (like working a night shift) I strongly recommend getting on the pilot as it will cut your cost in half. For my driving, that is the difference of 30$ vs 60$ a month. It is far less either way than oil/gas but that extra 30$ adds up.

 

[bhzmark]

According to Your Questions Answered | Tesla Motors the annual fuel cost for driving 15k miles at $.11/kwh = $480 for the whole year. My summer a/c is more than that in one month. Its not worth the hassle to maybe save $200 in a year. And risk having pay a higher price when need to charge at peak time.

 

[scaesare]

According to Your Questions Answered | Tesla Motors the annual fuel cost for driving 15k miles at $.11/kwh = $480 for the whole year. My summer a/c is more than that in one month. Its not worth the hassle to maybe save $200 in a year. And risk having pay a higher price when need to charge at peak time.

Same here... I drive ~24K a yr and it coats me 65-70/month... my normal power bill is several times that...

 

[paulkva]

According to Your Questions Answered | Tesla Motors the annual fuel cost for driving 15k miles at $.11/kwh = $480 for the whole year. My summer a/c is more than that in one month. Its not worth the hassle to maybe save $200 in a year. And risk having pay a higher price when need to charge at peak time.

I think Dominion's EV+home time-of-use plan makes the most sense if the house generally remains unoccupied during peak/business hours, e.g. if all adults in the house typically work outside the home. It has worked well for me; my bills under the EV+home pricing plan are about the same or a little lower than they were pre-Tesla, and all we've changed (aside from getting the car of course!) is what time of day we tend to run the dryer and dishwasher. So basically my fuel costs for the Tesla are less than our savings from the pricing plan.

At $480+/month for summer AC, in addition to all the standard advice (i.e. considering programmable thermostats, adding insulation, etc) which you've probably heard/read plenty about already, you might also want to look into Dominion's Smart Cooling Rewards program (Smart Cooling Rewards). The savings won't be huge ($40/year rebate plus slightly reduced power usage) but it could help. I participated until I bought the Tesla, and then Dominion told me Smart Cooling isn't compatible with the EV+home plan.

 

[bhzmark]

they updated the clean fuel plate list. They not only finally added the Model S to 2015, but also kept the no more Roadster added the not yet Model X!

2015

• Acura ILX 1.5L, Acura RLX 3.5L
• BMW I3 REX 0.6L Plug-in
• BMW I8 1.5L Plug-in
• Cadillac ELR 1.4L
• Chevrolet Volt 1.4L
• Ford C-Max 2.0L, Ford C-Max Energi Plug-in 2.0L, Ford Fusion 2.0L, Ford Fusion Energi Plug-in 2.0L
• Honda Accord 2.0L, Honda Civic 1.5L (auto-CVS trans.), Honda Civic 1.5L (Man.), Honda CR-Z 1.5L
• Hyundai Sonata 2.4L
• Kia Optima 2.4L
• Lexus CT200h 1.8L, Lexus ES300h 2.5L, Lexus GS450h 3.5L, Lexus LS 600h, Lexus NX300h 2.5L, Lexus RX450h 3.5L
• Lincoln MKZ 2.0L
• Mercedes-Benz E400 3.5
• Nissan Leaf
• Porsche Cayenne S plug-in 3.0L, Porsche Panamera S 3.0L
• Subaru XV Crosstrek 2.0L
• Tesla Roadster, Tesla S, Tesla X
• Toyota Avalon 2.5L, Toyota Camry 2.5L, Toyota Highlander 3.5L, Toyota Prius c 1.5L, Toyota Prius v 1.8L, Toyota Prius 1.8L, Toyota Prius 1.8L plug-in
• Volkswagen Jetta 1.4L

 

[DFibRL8R]

I find it interesting that unlike many other states, Virginia does not have a special plate for pure EVs. They lump hybrids, EVs, natural Gas all in the clean fuel category and as such, there are massive numbers of clean fuel plate eligible vehicles thanks to the popularity of prius, camry etc. As a result, the benefit of the plate (preferred HOV access) has been chipped away over the years with only older plates grandfathered in. I wonder if Virginia EV owners could lobby for an EV plate with better benefits? I wouldn't know where to start but given the small number of EVs, it seems like it wouldn't put too much burden on the HOV lanes...yet.
Honestly, the HOV benefit for the newest clean fuel plate is so limited now I'm not sure why people are still getting them and paying the extra fee.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[Habious]

Honestly, the HOV benefit for the newest clean fuel plate is so limited now I'm not sure why people are still getting them and paying the extra fee.

When I got my Roadster in October, I didn't bother.

There's no benefit (for me). I can't use it for I-66, I-395, I-95

 

[iadbound]

I wonder if Virginia EV owners could lobby for an EV plate with better benefits?

There's no love for EVs here. Being lumped in with hybrids might be better. Regardless, the State is tired of HOV exemptions for clean fuel vehicles. Current plans will have hot lanes on I-66 with HOV exemptions ditched for CFVs (this isn't final and there is a lot of opposition). Still, it's not hard to imagine it going away on I-95/I-395 too. Although, there are a lot less folks with the plates that grant I-95/I-395 access.

I can't imagine losing my I-66 access, but it may come to that. If EVs were spared, that would be great, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[chickensevil]

There's no love for EVs here. Being lumped in with hybrids might be better. Regardless, the State is tired of HOV exemptions for clean fuel vehicles. Current plans will have hot lanes on I-66 with HOV exemptions ditched for CFVs (this isn't final and there is a lot of opposition). Still, it's not hard to imagine it going away on I-95/I-395 too. Although, there are a lot less folks with the plates that grant I-95/I-395 access.

I can't imagine losing my I-66 access, but it may come to that. If EVs were spared, that would be great, but I'm not holding my breath.

I-95/I-395 is already gone... The only part that still allows the old plates is 395 from Edsall to the Pentagon.

 

[DFibRL8R]

I think Dominion's EV+home time-of-use plan makes the most sense if the house generally remains unoccupied during peak/business hours, e.g. if all adults in the house typically work outside the home. It has worked well for me; my bills under the EV+home pricing plan are about the same or a little lower than they were pre-Tesla, and all we've changed (aside from getting the car of course!) is what time of day we tend to run the dryer and dishwasher. So basically my fuel costs for the Tesla are less than our savings from the pricing plan.

We used this plan and had similar results. But then we installed solar panels discovered the Dominion EV plans are generally not comparable with solar. If we wanted to continue the EV plan we would not also be able to use net metering and would be donating all of our solar power generated back to Dominion. Instead we switched to net metering and had to give up the nice time of use rates on the EV plan. I guess the folks at Dominion didn't think EV owners might also get solar which is unfortunate because now we have no incentive to charge the Model S during the deep night when Dominion has a surplus of power.

 

[chickensevil]

no incentive to charge the Model S during the deep night when Dominion has a surplus of power.

This is an interesting fact and important to point out, which most people do no realize. While during the day our mix of power is like 46% Nuclear and then other power such as Coal. At night, almost all of that drops away and it turns into Nuclear only. Even better/worse (depending on which side you are looking) because you can only turn down Nuclear so far (I think it is like 60%) and even if you turn it down it still is costing the same amount operationally, there is power going into the grid that is essentially unused.

This means it is currently is VA's and DOM's best interest to get people to use more power at night so that they can actually *make* money on their Nuclear plant instead of wasting it. This is largely why they allowed for the EV solo rate so they could hopefully tempt you into charging your car in the middle of the night at half the cost. They are making money that would have otherwise not been made (essentially pure profit) and you get a killer deal on your rates.

So it would be in their best interest to allow you as a solar customer to sell your solar at your rates you get during the day, and then charge your car on the cheap Nuclear at night.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I wouldn't bother getting Clean Special Fuel Plates - there are no benefits anymore

 

[EVTECH]

I think the only benefit is use in Hampton Roads area on 264 and 64 on the peninsula.

 

[bhzmark]

That letter is just for 66. Still good on Dulles toll road and 395 part that is still hov. For those with the old style plates.

But very sad to lose the 66 benefits.