Reviver has been making its case for digital license plates since 2009. While it has taken a fair amount of time for states and customers to cozy up to the idea, Reviver’s digital license plates are available in California and Arizona. Come 2021, Reviver says its digital license plates will be available in Michigan. And after that? The company says that Georgia and Texas are likely up next to get them.

What states have digital license plates?

To date, only two states allow digital license plates: California and Arizona. However, digital license plates, or Rplates as Reviver calls them, are street legal for travel across the country. Reviver is working with state motor vehicle administrations nationwide too, and according to its website, most states are in the early stages of adopting Reviver’s plates. 

According to Reviver, Rplates will be available in Michigan by the beginning of the second quarter of next year. After meeting with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at an auto show a few years back, Neville Boston, Reviver founder and chief strategy officer told Car and Driver that the legislation is now taken care of. At this point, all that’s left to do is integrate Rplates with the Secretary of State’s systems and databases.

Overall, the company says there are over 4,000 Rplates are running on the roads in California and Arizona. Once Michigan wraps things up with Reviver, the company anticipates Georgia and Texas to come next. The company claims that by the end of 2021, there could be upwards of 100,000 Rplates in use. The company says it is also working with dealerships, colleges, and universities to boost usage of the digital license plates too.

Here’s what Rplates can do

Reviver’s digital license plate is more than a license plate. Because Rplate uses a screen, owners can use it to display approved messages. In situations where a car has been stolen, a Rplate can be extremely useful. Those with a Reviver plate affixed to their vehicle can also use the Rplate to pay their vehicle registration fees, which the company says is a game-changer.

It’s because of handy features like this that Reviver offers two digital license plates to choose from. The basic Rplate, which comes equipped with a five-year lithium-ion battery is $499. However, that price doesn’t include a $55 per year or $4.99 per month subscription fee. The Rplate Pro, on the other hand, costs $599 and $75 per year, or $599 and $6.99 per month. You can pay for it in installments of $24.95 per month for 36 months. 

What’s next for Reviver?

Reviver has big plans for the future and is already in talks with automotive manufacturers about having its plates built-in into new models. “We’ve actually had conversations with every one of the major OEMs around that,” Boston told Car and Driver. Before making the jump, however, automakers want to see more states approving the use of Reviver’s digital license plates. Automakers want to see the plates on more cars too. And once those numbers grow? Boston says it will allow the company to have a “more substantive conversation with the manufacturers.”