Arizona Hands Out Last Hybrid HOV Plate

Yeah, I recv'd my Hybrid HOV plate in the mail just 2 days before that article ran....talk about cutting it close. :eyebrows:

 

I'm curious about the hybrid HOV privilege in AZ: do you face an eventual withdrawal of the privilege? Here in CA, the privilege expires on Jan 1, 2011. I am not looking forward to that day! my commute time will probably double then. And there seems to be little hope of an extension beyond 2011, unfortunately. If they would only extend it two or three more years, I would be able to retire before the commute turns sour!

 

Good question, and one I can't answer. As far as I know, there is no expiration time for this plate and it can even be transferred to another "qualifying" car at the time of trade-in or new purchase.

Sorry to hear of your impending dilemma. FWIW...we may be facing the same situation here but I just don't know it...yet.

 

Yes, there is an expiration. I think it's 2010 but I may be wrong. I received 2 plates in the mail, my environmental plate and my regular one. With these two plates came 2 registrations. I'm *assuming* they did so when the program expires and I have to turn in the plate that I have something to replace it in. Curious if others received two plates? I received 'em both at the same time.

Regardless of the plate there was documentation with my environmental plate stating the program was a pilot program that had an expiration.

Mike

 

Quote from ServiceArizona.com

*Energy Efficient – Pilot program that is available only to qualifying vehicles.
Initial Application Fee $8.00 / Annual Renewal Fee $0.00
The Energy Efficient license plate is no longer available. This plate was issued as a part of Arizona's Energy Efficient Pilot Program, with a maximum of 10,000 participants. Only Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight and Toyota Prius (all model years) qualify for this pilot program. The pilot program is limited to 10,000 participants. Should the pilot program end, a replacement plate will be issued to existing participants and no additional fee will be charged.

-There is no specific expiration time listed. Also, when we recv'd our HOV plate (in the mail a weeek or so ago), we only recv'd 1 HOV plate & 1 registration.

 

Weird, well, that's good news. I could swear that I saw an expiration date at one time. Oh well. Must be a fluke I got 2 different plates.

 

I did some research on the issue before I bought my Prius. Contrary to popular belief, the HOV plate was a HUGE decision in getting the Prius. I bought mine in the end of April when there were only 400 plates left. I got in right before the price hike as well. I bought my car on a Monday. The next day the dealership called me with my license plate number. I then went online and registered for the hybrid plate which arrived on thursday. my regular plate arrived the following week.

However, the Fed and state are looking at whether the additional 10,000 car poolers will adversely impact the AZ highway system. It is highly doubtful given the fact that the carpool lane is currently operating at 12% capacity.

The California program, which ends in 2011, is significantly different. First, there were no license plates issues. Rather, there are HOV stickers placed on the car. The HOV privilege goes with the car and not the license plate. This has made the resale of used cars with HOV stickers a hot commodity. In Arizona, a used Prius does not qualify for HOV status unless the new owner is transferring a hybrid plate from another car. Also, there are many more drivers that use the california carpool lanes which is why the cap was announced. California officials anticipated that by 2011 the carpool lanes with hybrid HOV access would expand beyond 60% occupancy.

The transfer of the HOV plates is actually a HUGE bonus if you are planning to upgrade to the 2009/2010 Pruis or any other qualifying hybrid. There has also been talk that AZ will open up the HOV plate program to other hybrids (Lexis, Yukon, etc.). This is mostly hype perpetuated by non-qualifying hybrid owners trying to sell their overpriced vehicles.

It is interesting to note that not all qualifying hybrids have HOV plates. I think the article mentions 16,000 qualifying vehicles without the plates. I saw a hybrid a few weeks ago with a personalized license plate. I can understand if the person lives in a place where there are no freeways or carpool lanes, but in the city, it's the best $8 you can spend. heck that's 2 gallons of gas!

 

I wish WA would have some kind of HOV plan. Traffic is horrible and yet the carpool lanes sit wide open.

 

When i lived out there i would always see the blue cloud plates, they are pretty sweet, much cooler than the yellow stickers

 

I am a Volkswagen Jetta TDI Diesel owner that gets 40+ mpg, but unfortunately I cannot join the elated Prius owners that have received an Energy Efficient (EE) plate from Arizona's pilot program. The 10,000 vehicle limit has been reached.

I am posting because I just received an answer from the MVD in Arizona stating the following: "...sorry but the owner cannot transfer the EE plate to you. The owner of the EE plate can only transfer the license plate to another eligible hybrid of which he is the owner."

I was hoping I could still join the thousands of Prius owners that are driving in the HOV lane by buying a used Prius and having the owner transfer his EE plate to me. That cannot be done.

Oh well...like the man who ogles a voluptuous woman from afar, I will continue to look admiringly at all the Prius' with EE plates driving past me on the HOV lanes...

...thus my username Prius_2L8 (Prius too late).

 

The Land of Lincoln doesn't have HOV at all!

 

12% may be true overall, but in some places/times it's at capacity. I've tried using I-10 EB's HOV lane in the afternoons, but it's not worth it. It doesn't move any faster than the mainline lanes.

 

I heard there was a loophole to transferring the plate in AZ - is this true?