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CA Residents: Green Carpool Stickers Now Exhausted :(

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by phvdriv3r, Apr 29, 2014.

  1. phvdriv3r

    phvdriv3r Defender of the Glass - Lemon-ed a 2012 PHV

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    From: Green HOV Stickers Now Exhausted In California

    "About a month ago we noted that the amount of “green” HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) was rapidly approaching the 40,000 limit as set out by the California Air Resources Board. At the time, just 3,770 were left.
    [​IMG]
    “Green” Stickers, Most Commonly Applied To Chevy Volts and Toyota Prius PHVs Are Now Exhausted​

    That number quickly dropped to just about 1,500 left a week later, as CARB’s website stated:
    “As of April 7, 2014, 38,478 “green” stickers have been issued. Green stickers are valid through January 1, 2019.”​
    This number then basically idled in place for the month as CARB froze dealer’s abilities to pre-register vehicles for “green” stickers, leaving many to wonder how many were left and when they would run out.
    Then yesterday morning, CARB’s site was updated with this note:
    “As of April 28, 2014, 39,359 “green” stickers have been issued. Green stickers are valid through January 1, 2019.”​
    That was just 881 new “green” stickers issued in Californian in three weeks, which was only a fraction of the issuing pace that had been set over the past 2-3 months. Was this possible? Had demand suddenly fallen off? Can someone still apply and get a “green” sticker at this point; say for example on the BMW i3 REx that was just approved for the HOV sticker this week?
    What better way to figure out what is going on than to contact CARB directly about it?
    It turns out that yes, that is the amount they have issued, but unfortunately if you don’t have your “green” sticker application already in (and maybe if you already do), you aren’t getting one; as they currently have more apps than stickers.
    Says CARB:
    “At this point, pending applications waiting processing at the California DMV now significantly exceed the number of available green stickers.
    That being said, the California legislature is considering a significant extension of the number of vehicles eligible for this incentive. Since this is a legislative action, we cannot guarantee that they will choose to extend the program beyond the original 40,000 stickers. We recommend you watch our website for more information and we will post any changes to the law allowing additional stickers if they are adopted.”    ​
    [​IMG]
    “White” Stickers For All-Electric Cars Are Unlimited​

    As to the possibility of more stickers, California Assembly bill (California AB-2013) sets out to raise the 40,000 cap up to 85,000; but there doesn’t appear to be the drive to adopt this new threshold.
    Early this month an attempt was made to give AB-2013 urgency status to made the transition to the new limit seamless for Californians, but it did not receive the 67% of the vote required. That bill now hits the assembly floor very much in doubt."
     
    #1 phvdriv3r, Apr 29, 2014
  2. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    I wonder if may will have a huge drop in prius phv sales (biggest impact since so many buyers listed the sticker as a major reason) and drops of the fusion and c-max energi and volt. Running out of stickers may boost leaf and bmw i3 sales.
     
    #2 austingreen, Apr 29, 2014
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  3. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    I wonder if may will have a huge drop in prius phv sales (biggest impact since so many buyers listed the sticker as a major reason) and drops of the fusion and c-max energi and volt. Running out of stickers may boost leaf and bmw i3 sales.
     
    #3 austingreen, Apr 29, 2014
  4. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Coming this late in the month, we probably won't see it until the May sales numbers. The April numbers may be here by Friday given how fast Jeff Cobb has posted the last couple of months.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #4 bwilson4web, Apr 29, 2014
  5. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Yes, I think this will be in the may numbers not april. April may even see a bump up in phv sales, but I'm expecting a down year for it. The volt will probably be steady, the leaf and ford energis increasing sales.
     
    #5 austingreen, Apr 29, 2014
  6. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    >>Anyone in CA who still wants a green HOV sticker, there may be a few left on PHEV at dealerships because until recently the dealerships were allowed to pre-purchase the stickers. But expect to pay more and move fast. I guess you could buy a used PHEV with a green sticker too.

    Yes I would expect big drop in PiP sales after this (although they've been selling like hot cakes in CA in Jan-April). I'd love to get some 2014 YTD stats, but all we can say right now is 2013 sales 42% of PHEV were sold in CA. A recent study by UCDavis (posted elsewhere) showed many CA PiP owners said they purchased for the HOV stickers.
     
    #6 wjtracy, Apr 29, 2014
  7. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    The effect on the Volt will be about the reverse of what we saw when the car became eligible. Around 50% IIRC. I know the Volt is much cheaper now, but the pool of ideological buyers is used up.
     
    #7 SageBrush, Apr 30, 2014
  8. Scorpion

    Scorpion Active Member

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    Hopefully, they will return applications received after the 40,000th sticker is officially issued, but I hope they can still do something for the people who got their application in before 40,000, but were still denied.
    At worst, it may require the legislature to amend the law to allow to allow those folks to still get in; I'm guessing it shouldn't be more than 4,000 or so applications, based on sales rates.
     
    #8 Scorpion, Apr 30, 2014
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  9. 70AARCUDA

    70AARCUDA Active Member

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    Trading 'PERKS' for Petroleum...the new CARB slogan?
     
    #9 70AARCUDA, Apr 30, 2014
  10. Dr Surfdog

    Dr Surfdog Junior Member

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    It should impair PiP sales, but most people don't realize the TMC incentives make the PiP in CA about the same price as the regular Prius. (currently < $23K with TMC, federal, and CA incentives). I've been very happy with mine. Breezing through the carpool lane with free charging at work. These are the golden years for plug-in owners.
     
    #10 Dr Surfdog, May 2, 2014
  11. TonyQ

    TonyQ Junior Member

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    My local Toyota dealer called me out of the blue offering to buy back my 2013 PiP Advanced, apparently for another customer. I'm pretty sure its an attempt to buy the sticker.
     
    #11 TonyQ, May 3, 2014
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  12. 70AARCUDA

    70AARCUDA Active Member

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    SIMILAR STORY -- Our local Chevy dealership used the same "ploy" with our 2011 Cruze (and AZ does NOT have 'stickers')...so, *I* translated their intent as a marketing "ploy" to get us BACK into their showroom with the intent of "working" us up & into the newest product.
     
    #12 70AARCUDA, May 3, 2014
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Any prospective buyers in CA should also follow the PriusChat thread shown below. Even CARB seems to be suggesting more green stickers are possible pending legislative action. The new BMW plug-in just got approved for green stickers, which seems odd if the green stickers do not exist anymore.

    from BILOFSKY:
    I emailed ARB and asked them about that. Their reply:

    All correct, but DMV is not expending resources pre-sorting the applications as they come in. In other words there is a significant number of applications in line (this includes white stickers as well as vehicles that do not qualify). The California DMV is keeping all valid applications "in cue" pending action by the CA legislature to extend the number available stickers. If your vehicle purchase requires that you receive a sticker, we recommend you wait until the legislature extends the number of stickers allowed so that you are assured that you will receive a sticker for your purchase.​
    This isn't inconsistent with what I was saying.

    But in any event, if they're not out of green stickers now, they will be in the next couple of weeks.

    And the likelihood is that in a few months they'll be issuing more.

    Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/has-anyone-received-a-ca-green-hov-sticker-yet.104322/page-59#ixzz30goz0mRd
    Follow us: @PriusChat on Twitter | PriusChat on Facebook
     
    #13 wjtracy, May 3, 2014
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