Has anyone received a CA Green HOV Sticker yet?

Not sure it has anything to do with the email I sent them this morning, but it's fixed now.

This page last reviewed April 29, 2014
As of April 28, 2014, 39,359 "green" stickers have been issued.

It's just a little bit more complicated than that. Read back in this thread, starting around mid-March.

 

Green HOV Stickers Depleted​

By the time you read this Dealer Alert, DMV's inventory of 40,000 green HOV stickers for plug-in hybrid vehicles is completely gone. Since existing law does not allow DMV to issue additional green stickers, Assembly member Muratsuchi has introduced AB 2013 which if it becomes law, will increase the number of green stickers that the DMV is authorized to issue.
<a side note, this has been shot down several times already>
CNCDA will notify our members if AB 2013 is passed, but until this legislation is adopted dealers SHOULD NOT ADVERTISE or promise the availability of any future green stickers to avoid potential legal liability.

DMV's announcement does not affect white HOV stickers which are issued for all-electric, CNG, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Dealers may still obtain these in advance for eligible vehicles in their inventory.

 

Is AB 2013 still pushing for 85,000 total green stickers? What do you think the chances are that green stickers becoming invalidated before 2019 as carpool lane traffic congestion increases? I know it would help dealerships sell more with the green sticker increase, but if increasing it to 85k risks the perk for all green sticker owners, it seems a bit unfair to increase the cap that ambitiously. Maybe there needs to be a study on what the max combined white+green count should be and base the newer cap for PHEVs off of that, maybe 50k or 55k total greenies instead of 85k.

In addition, do you by any chance know if the DMV keeps track of how many green stickers have already been allocated by dealerships but are still on the lot unsold? I think it would be an interesting statistic to know.

 

It doesn't benefit me one iota to not have green stickers to apply for.

I am looking not at the fact that stickers might be ok'ed on the assembly bill, but the reason they will not be. This bill is tied to an affirmative action measure that no one seems to want to be involved with. That reason alone kills the bill. The Dept of transportation has already said that HOV lane degradation's taking place to the highest degree they can manage and allow for. It went from 43% to 49% in just 8 months. Of course it did. You now have Tesla, Rav4 EV, Smart EV, Fiat, and LEAF fighting over carpool lanes.
I'd be thrilled and love for it to pass. I sell lots of Toyotas every year, about 1100-1200 a year, frankly, and half my business last year was Rav4 EV and Prius + Prius PlugIns. The few cars we have here with HOV stickers on them not being discounted off MSRP won't make anyone rich or help me retire. There's so little profit in a PlugIn Prius model, it's a sincere travesty. But, once they are gone, how do we move out the rest of them? That's my biggest worry.

 

They can increase the number of HOV lanes during commute times.

(Note: From a capacity|throughput standpoint, this would only address the relative proportion of drivers shifting away from gas-only vehicles. It obviously doesn't deal effectively with the part of the problem that arises from simply increasing number of vehicles in the aggregate around the state. However, the state's primary objective is pollution, so shifting the proportion to cleaner vehicles helps with that.

The alternative is what we're facing: a situation where current and upcoming car purchasers, who would presumably mostly be replacements for existing vehicles, are disincentivized in the short-term from maintaining the trend to shift to hybrids and EVs. (I did also just read something yesterday about Toyota moving the core of its US operations out of Torrance, CA to Plano, TX in the coming years, apparently both for tax breaks and shifting "rebalancing" of their North American operations, but not sure how this would affect traffic patterns if it does at all.))

 

Dianne- Do you still have any PiPs for sale with green stickers already on them the dealership was able to get?

 

#40605 issued to a PiP and arrived Monday. So they're way over the 40k serial number mark.

 

So as a new PIP buyer, I should just try to apply as early as I can and hope for the best right? Is there anything specific to request from dealer and/or he can help expediate the process?

 

Reading the notification Dianne posted, it appears there are no more stickers left and an application sent in now would most likely get rejected.

 

Hmm, okay. When did you apply BTW?

 

The sticker I posted a few posts back was applied for 2 weeks ago. They cashed the check last friday and the stickers arrived on Monday.

 

NO! They are NOT out. Dianne said "<a side note, this has been shot down several times already>".

My estimate is that they will run out around mid-May.

 

My dealer (Piercey Toyota) has an ex-DMV worker employed there. Once our financing issues were settled, she got me the plate # within days, I called them to confirm the plate # was in process and overnighted the app to them (USPS only 'cause it's to a PO Box which FedEx don't deliver to). I researched and ensured the app included everything required as well as the information being exact (exact name as the DMV has on record, exact address, even written, spelled, and capitalized the exact same way to minimize any likelihood of mismatch rejection).

I've also read someone got their sticker even with an app that lacked the plate # (despite their official insistence it is required). This seems to work as long as the VIN# is in their system somewhere, which seems to mean a lic plate# is pending or foregone.

This borderline period is probably the worst, in terms of timing, to purchase a Plug-In for green sticker. If the sticker limit increase legislation were settled as either having happened, you could be assured, or not happening, you could use use that for trying to negotiate a lower price with dealers (for many, I'm told, the $5k+ premium over the regular Prius was worth it for the sticker alone) or consider a base Prius or consider an EV.

Were I in your position, I'd still try anyway, because:

1. the State may be denying dealers in order to reserve for individual applicants for already purchased vehicles.
2. it really can't hurt at this point.
3. sticker increase legislation is still uncertain and unsettled.

 

But wasnt that comment referring to the idea of extending the total number of green stickers?

EDIT: here's a post in the News forum.. CARB says they have more applications than stickers.. so its a done deal

CA Residents: Green Carpool Stickers Now Exhausted | PriusChat

 

I think you need to go back and re-read. The reference you noted above was for the 85k limit increase.

They are either out already or they have more applications in the system then they have available stickers left, so anyone applying today and on is most likely SOL.

 

As a new PiP buyer, your only bet at this point is to find a dealership with stickers already on the car and pay the price premium.

 

Thanks for the comments folks. Guess I would just focus on additional savings from PiP given shorter commute and hope for an increase.

 

This is likely the case. On the other hand, not all applications are equal. It's not clear how many in that queue they will attempt to work through if the applications are flawed in some way. Perhaps more. Still, no matter how you cut it at this point, you're playing odds. Might as well make the best of it.

PriusVala lists as being here in the SFBA. The chances a dealer still has a pre-stickered Prius unsold is low, made even lower by the reasoning that, if it's still untaken, it's likely a combination of color, interior, trim level, or such that most people don't want.

 

You are spot on acceleraptor. Haven't found a single dealer who has PiP with sticker. They are all gone from what I could tell.

 

Can you go to LA to pick one up? Dianne has them. Post #1124 has her details. Call her.