License Plate News

[Ted$8roadFan]

Today marks the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one in Maine: the chickadee license plate is now officially retired, and the new designs take effect starting today.

https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2025-04-30/bye-bye-birdie-maines-chickadee-plates-will-be-replaced-with-new-design-may-1

[bulldog1979]

I saw a blue one for the first time a couple days ago. Honestly? It looked sharp. As dated as the OG blue plates looked, the white plates that replaced them are so horridly bland that it's actually refreshing to see the blue again. Granted, the new Blues are using the same serial dies as the blue/yellow, green/white, and black plates, so they aren't *completely* accurate to the originals.

But that said, I'd love to see the white plates get replaced with the blue plate but with the Pure Michigan logo.

I saw a new blue plate in the wild yesterday as well. It looked sharp.

[vdeane]

I saw a blue one for the first time a couple days ago. Honestly? It looked sharp. As dated as the OG blue plates looked, the white plates that replaced them are so horridly bland that it's actually refreshing to see the blue again. Granted, the new Blues are using the same serial dies as the blue/yellow, green/white, and black plates, so they aren't *completely* accurate to the originals.

But that said, I'd love to see the white plates get replaced with the blue plate but with the Pure Michigan logo.

I saw a new blue plate in the wild yesterday as well. It looked sharp.

Sharp enough to puncture the hull of an Empire-class Fire Nation battleship, leading thousands to die at sea?  Because... it's so sharp.

[OCGuy81]

In the latter half of 2025, or early 2026, California will switch to a new numbering sequence.  I'd LOVE to see a new baseplate, but that's unlikely.

No real surprise here, but they'll do a mirror sequence.  1AAA000 will become 000AAA1. A story from KTLA.

It was bound to happen eventually; California is about to run out of license plate numbers.

That's according to reporting from nonprofit newsroom LAist, which spoke to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV told the outlet that the current license plate format will be exhausted at some point of next year.

That format — one number, followed by three letters, then three more numbers — has been in use since 1980 beginning with 1AAA000. So after about 45 years, a new format is needed.

As a DMV spokesperson told LAist that the new format will essentially be a mirror format of the previous sequence. So, instead of 1AAA000 being a possible combination, it would be 000AAA1.

Those new plates will be rolled out at some point in 2026, according to estimates.

Now, the question is who will be the lucky person to receive 9ZZZ999, the final plate with the current sequence?

https://ktla.com/news/california/heres-how-californias-license-plates-will-look-different-next-year/#:~:text=So%20after%20about%2045%20years,in%202026%2C%20according%20to%20estimates.

[jdbx]

In the latter half of 2025, or early 2026, California will switch to a new numbering sequence.  I'd LOVE to see a new baseplate, but that's unlikely.

No real surprise here, but they'll do a mirror sequence.  1AAA000 will become 000AAA1. A story from KTLA.

It was bound to happen eventually; California is about to run out of license plate numbers.

That's according to reporting from nonprofit newsroom LAist, which spoke to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV told the outlet that the current license plate format will be exhausted at some point of next year.

That format — one number, followed by three letters, then three more numbers — has been in use since 1980 beginning with 1AAA000. So after about 45 years, a new format is needed.

As a DMV spokesperson told LAist that the new format will essentially be a mirror format of the previous sequence. So, instead of 1AAA000 being a possible combination, it would be 000AAA1.

Those new plates will be rolled out at some point in 2026, according to estimates.

Now, the question is who will be the lucky person to receive 9ZZZ999, the final plate with the current sequence?

It is kind of crazy to me that we have had the same base design for 30 years now, save for very small adjustments.

[OCGuy81]

In the latter half of 2025, or early 2026, California will switch to a new numbering sequence.  I'd LOVE to see a new baseplate, but that's unlikely.

No real surprise here, but they'll do a mirror sequence.  1AAA000 will become 000AAA1. A story from KTLA.

It was bound to happen eventually; California is about to run out of license plate numbers.

That's according to reporting from nonprofit newsroom LAist, which spoke to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV told the outlet that the current license plate format will be exhausted at some point of next year.

That format — one number, followed by three letters, then three more numbers — has been in use since 1980 beginning with 1AAA000. So after about 45 years, a new format is needed.

As a DMV spokesperson told LAist that the new format will essentially be a mirror format of the previous sequence. So, instead of 1AAA000 being a possible combination, it would be 000AAA1.

Those new plates will be rolled out at some point in 2026, according to estimates.

Now, the question is who will be the lucky person to receive 9ZZZ999, the final plate with the current sequence?

It is kind of crazy to me that we have had the same base design for 30 years now, save for very small adjustments.

One thing that's interesting to me is how it took California so long to go through what is basically a re-arranged ABC1234 sequence.  Texas started an ABC1234 in 2012 and is nearly through it in just over a decade. 

[mgk920]

How long would the 'Ontario' numbering format (LLLL-NNN' sequentially from [9ZZZ999]) work in California?  Also, why not also convert California to a 'plates stay with the car's owner' system like in most other states?

Mike

[kphoger]

How long would the 'Ontario' numbering format (LLLL-NNN' sequentially from [9ZZZ999]) work in California?  Also, why not also convert California to a 'plates stay with the car's owner' system like in most other states?

These questions seem to imply that 'running out of numbers' is actually a problem.  In reality, it's not a problem.  They just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

[GaryV]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

[pderocco]

It is kind of crazy to me that we have had the same base design for 30 years now, save for very small adjustments.

Yeah, like adding "dmv.ca.gov". That deserves a major design award.

[pderocco]

How long would the 'Ontario' numbering format (LLLL-NNN' sequentially from [9ZZZ999]) work in California?  Also, why not also convert California to a 'plates stay with the car's owner' system like in most other states?

It took 46 years to go through the #@@@### format, so a @@@@### format would take over twice as long. We'll have flying cars by then.

[kphoger]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

I mean, as kooky as I think the serial numbers have become in recent years in Missouri (AB1 C2D), Florida (AB1 2CD among others), South Dakota (12A BC3), and Utah (A12 3BC), are they actually causing any real problems?

[pderocco]

I always figured that plate stamping machines had a 3-digit auto-incrementing assembly with three big ten-position tool wheels and three big die wheels, and which could be positioned anywhere on the plate, and that the other positions were manually set up with individual tools and dies (or is it dice?) by an operator. (That would explain why I've occasionally seen the letter O replaced by the digit 0 in California standard series plates.) That way, they could do an automated run of 1000 plate pairs without operator intervention. Then I see some states that only have two adjacent digits, and wonder what their machine looks like, or if they're manually resetting things every 100 pairs.

[Scott5114]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

I mean, as kooky as I think the serial numbers have become in recent years in Missouri (AB1 C2D), Florida (AB1 2CD among others), South Dakota (12A BC3), and Utah (A12 3BC), are they actually causing any real problems?

Some letter-number sequences are harder to remember than others. "DFG161" is probably easier to remember for most people than something like "D1F6G1". But I don't know of any studies or data that shows which are the easiest to remember.

I'd think that the Ontario-style AAAA999 would be the best on both fronts, since it has more potential combinations than three-letter-four-number sequences, while also being more memorable, since there are a lot of actual words you can form with four letters (it would be pretty easy to remember that the guy who hit you and drove off had a plate like "FUNK683" or "SALT926"). But that is also a downfall, because some people wouldn't want certain four letter words on their plate (in most states, anyway; Nevada could probably get more people to actually register their cars if they gave them the option to get something obscene).

[hotdogPi]

I feel like AAAA000 should also be used for California, but for an entirely different reason: this isn't even a new format but just A=10, B=11, etc.

[mgk920]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

I mean, as kooky as I think the serial numbers have become in recent years in Missouri (AB1 C2D), Florida (AB1 2CD among others), South Dakota (12A BC3), and Utah (A12 3BC), are they actually causing any real problems?

Arizona and Colorado are both a mess, too.

This is also why I am advocating that California switch to a 'plates stay with the cars' owners' system like in many/most other states.  This goes a long way to preserving available numbers.  Wisconsin does that and MANY car buyers use their old plates on their newly acquired vehicles.

Further I am intrigued by Indiana's random/recycled plate numbers.  A 'Lowest available' plate numbers system?

Mike

[wriddle082]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

I mean, as kooky as I think the serial numbers have become in recent years in Missouri (AB1 C2D), Florida (AB1 2CD among others), South Dakota (12A BC3), and Utah (A12 3BC), are they actually causing any real problems?

Some letter-number sequences are harder to remember than others. "DFG161" is probably easier to remember for most people than something like "D1F6G1". But I don't know of any studies or data that shows which are the easiest to remember.

I'd think that the Ontario-style AAAA999 would be the best on both fronts, since it has more potential combinations than three-letter-four-number sequences, while also being more memorable, since there are a lot of actual words you can form with four letters (it would be pretty easy to remember that the guy who hit you and drove off had a plate like "FUNK683" or "SALT926"). But that is also a downfall, because some people wouldn't want certain four letter words on their plate (in most states, anyway; Nevada could probably get more people to actually register their cars if they gave them the option to get something obscene).

Tennessee seems to have a scheme now that will last a very long time.  They just switched to LLL-NNNN for standard issue plates, but if you add the In God We Trust to that standard plate, it changes to NNN-LLLL.  More combinations for that sequence, so it's probably gonna take a long time to deplete those sequences.  And the next time they redesign their plates they can just reverse each sequence.

[Quillz]

just switch the alphanumeric format every so often, and good to go.

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

I mean, as kooky as I think the serial numbers have become in recent years in Missouri (AB1 C2D), Florida (AB1 2CD among others), South Dakota (12A BC3), and Utah (A12 3BC), are they actually causing any real problems?

Arizona and Colorado are both a mess, too.

This is also why I am advocating that California switch to a 'plates stay with the cars' owners' system like in many/most other states.  This goes a long way to preserving available numbers.  Wisconsin does that and MANY car buyers use their old plates on their newly acquired vehicles.

Further I am intrigued by Indiana's random/recycled plate numbers.  A 'Lowest available' plate numbers system?

Mike

I agree. There can be sentimentality attached to certain plates. But at the same time, I'm amazed that the current system will lasted 40+ years given its different plates per car. Since the new system will just be reversed, stands to reason it should last another four decades.

I also liked the idea of restarting the current system between 1-4. Since records can most likely show cars in that range are in low numbers nowadays. (I think 4 started to see use around the late 90s).