Green Number Plates: Everything You Need to Know

Out and about and whilst driving, you may have noticed more and more number plates that have a green stripe on them cropping up. With increasing frequency, vehicles on the roads are starting to show off these plates but what are they for and why have they suddenly appeared?

Green number plates are for zero-emission cars, including fully electric and hydrogen-cell powered vehicles. As an initiative launched by the Department for Transport, these plates are designed to raise awareness of electric vehicle (EV) ownership. This matches the government's plans for a greater uptake of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV), with a goal of completely phasing out the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and hybrid models by 2035.

With the intention being to only allow fully electric vehicles to be sold in the UK beyond 2035, this move to help identify those who have already made the switch over to greener driving could be beneficial for those with green number plates for electric cars.

As local authorities look at making their areas cleaner and more environmentally friendly in a range of different manners, these plates could easily establish those who might be able to

• Get free entry to low emission zones
• Access bus lanes
• Enjoy cheaper parking fees

Whilst nothing has been implemented yet, it may well be worth checking with your local authority what their upcoming plans for EVs are.

Of course, this type of electric car number plate is not compulsory and, as it stands, Clean Air Zones, Congestion Charge Zones, and other similar schemes use automatic number plate recognition which would pick up that your car is electric anyway. But there is another reasoning behind having your electric car owner status so prominently displayed, and that’s prestige.

As people start to upgrade their cars over time, the government wants them to consider switching to EVs and the added incentive of being able to identify your car as electric is going to encourage others to do the same.

This will help boost sales of purely electric cars and pave the way for similar incentives in the future. By increasing the visibility of electric cars on the road, the hope is that more people will see them as an increasingly viable option as their transport of choice.

Some dealerships have started fitting these green plates as standard to new zero emissions cars, and you can always request one if they don’t. You can also retrofit older electric cars that meet the zero emissions requirements with one, providing you can give proof of ID and evidence you own the vehicle in question (you can use the V5C document).

It’s not just cars that can get the sought-after green plates either as vans, buses and motorcycles can all be a part of this scheme providing they produce zero tailpipe emissions.

In fact, the vehicle doesn’t even have to be a battery electric vehcile, as hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles can also get in on the action. Hybrid cars unfortunately miss out though because of their petrol/diesel engines.

With the British government launching the scheme in December 2020, and similar initiatives already seeing some success in places like China, Canada, Hungary and Norway, you may well be seeing far more of these green machines on the road soon.

Speak with an electric specialist from Pentagon Group in #branchTownNewCar# to learn more about electric licence plates or to explore the latest hybrid and electric cars. Book your test drive now and join the future of driving.