CA HOV Stickers Probably Gone This Month

Good to know, thanks!

I'm curious if CA will either increase the sticker allotment or extend the expiration date past 1/1/19. Not extending the expiration date would have a negative effect on the 2nd gen Volt and other plug-ins.

 

Oh wow that's faster than I thought based on pace of sales...I was wondering if any Volt2's would get the benefit of the HOV stickers but sounds like maybe not.

 

I guess some folk will just have to get white ones then. Tisk tisk . . . .

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i would like to see how sales go without any stickers.

 

Here is a wild guess by me on CA green HOV sticker population as of 1Q2015. I am estimating almost 40% of all PHEV sales have CA green HOV stickers. Suggests to me the FORDs are coming on strong and my theory is may explain partly why PiP sales fell. (Note: BMW i3 is overstated that number is really BMW i3+ Caddy's). Further below I show % in CA figures for Hybrids/Plug-ins...keeps growing. In a day or two we will have the CA Plug_ins sales data for 1Q2015 from CNCDA.org.

 

Not a chance in hell going past 1/1/19; in fact, there's concern that on many busy HOV roads, green stickers won't be valid even before that date because the lanes would be "impacted." And I think there's already a backlash against the green stickered cars taking up too much HOV capacity.

 

Irony; when Toyota was pushing the PiP as much as GM was pushing the Volt - both companies wanted to assure the greenies would keep a flowin'. Is it a coincidence, that after Toyota started running their 'joys of hydrogen' campaign - and slamming plugin technology via their smear ads - we no longer see Toyota's lobby arm being so concerned about green stickers running out for the PiP. Oh well, here's to hoping GM et al will keep up the good work.

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I had applied more than 5 weeks back, did not hear anything from them (check not cashed either) So I called DMV field office phone line today, the line was bit noisy, but the rep told my stickers were processed today (or that they will be processed today), and I should expect the stickers in a week or 2. Thanks OP for jolting me into making that call (I was thinking the previous pace of issuance will allow me to keep my cool and wait it out). With only 1K stickers left, I could not take it easy anymore.


Why are they still allowing dealer pre-ordering? The rules state you can't apply unless you have the plates.

 

What backlash? I think it is only the white stickers folks that are jealous of green stickers, the general public is envious no doubt, but when they realize that the white stickers are not paying the gas tax, that theoretically is maintaining and building the road infrastructure, that is where they need to aim their ire. Some state (forget which) wanted to tack on additional tax on yearly registration for electric vehicles (not sure where that went), but the "so anti-rich, pro-poor" folks decried that move.

 

Unless the rules have changed again, dealers can pre-order the decals as soon as they have the VIN numbers on their incoming shipments. Owners, OTOH, must wait until they at least get the plate number (which can be some time before one get the physical plates).

 

I looked at one one of these Toyota "bash" ads. Is Toyota targeting all plug-ins for ridicule, or just specifically pure BEVs? It would seem to me that if Toyota's bashing included plug-in hybrids, that there wouldn't be the PiP-2 that PriusTeam and others talk about. Note that "hybrid" does not necessarily mean "gasoline/electric". Won't the Hydrogen Fuel Cell car be a hybrid (if not a plug-in hybrid), to get the benefits of regeneration and better acceleration from stops?

 

i don't get it .... why would white sticker cars (CNG, LP & EV's) be jealous of greens - there's no limit on whites.

 

If you visit other forums/discus comments, you see that many white stickers rue the fact that they paid so much for their cars to get the stickers while Prius has a small range and is still eligible.

The way I see it, Prius played by the rules (or lobbying) and is eligible, not unlike how Tesla gets to claim carbon credits even though by itself it never "removed" or "reduced" carbon emissions.

 

Perhaps a bit off topic, but: Why does CNG qualify for the white decals? They are burning a hydrocarbon, just like those with gasoline engines. So the carbon chain is of length one, so what? Still produces CO2 and other emissions. Or is it some kind of political thing?

 

CNG cars got favorable treatment even before fracking increased domestic supplies because it burns a lot cleaner than gasoline. Nominally, CARB's job is to reduce harmful emissions within California's cities. Burning CNG instead of diesel and gasoline does that.

 

The stickers are based on tailpipe emissions, not the fuel (government cant play favorites, or rather can't been seen backing a betamax or HD-DVD). The requirement is based on the fact that certain pollutants should not be emitted. CO2 is not one of the "banned" emission. CNG burning does not produce any of the listed pollutants, hence the eligibility.

 

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I believe at least several states (VA, WA) charge a modest annual fee for elec cars I think $64/yr in VA and maybe $100 in WA to account for lost gaso taxes. VA famously also tried to apply the $64 fee to all hybrids, but that hybrid fee got killed after one year.

 

With all the emission control devices and scrubbers, does a Prius actually emit anything other than CO2 in measurable amounts? I am having trouble figuring this out, since all of the "emission" web pages I can find seem to be concerned only with "carbon footprint"; i.e., how much CO2 is emitted by the vehicle. Other stuff, like nitrogen oxides and "evaporative emissions", aren't even mentioned. Even cars with poor gas economy, such as my wife's Honda Pilot, have an emissions rating that suggest that pretty much all that is coming out of the tailpipe is CO2. What am I missing here? Are the white decal rules an artifact of an earlier era when CO2 was not considered the primary "bad guy", and essentially all of the other "bad things" weren't scrubbed out by the emission control devices?