redLEAF said:
redLEAF said:
Quick update on Illinois 'EL' plate sightings ... drum roll please ... the 7000 plateau has been reached by a Chevy Bolt !
New Chevy Bolt sporting plate 7004 EL was spotted in the North Shore area of Chicago 'burbs yesterday; once Tesla Model 3's start showing up would imagine that we'll quickly pass the 8000 mark as well .. my prediction that we would see this level by August came true ! Of course its simply one data element as we see vanity and 'regular' plates on IL EV's as well.
Illinois EL plates sighted recently passed the 7600 mark (lately all 7K+ numbered plates I've seen have been on Tesla's - go figure?); anyone see anything higher?
I would wonder how much longer (you know they'll change it --- state is looking to boost revenues) they'll offer these discounted plates to cars that don't pay any gas taxes ... the EL plates are the last incentive that is still offered in Chicagoland; we saw the demise of the IL EV 10% rebate along with the 50% EVSE one; IL must think that the local market is simply
saturated with EV owners (not)
8000 mark has been passed -- saw 8054 EL just last week -- was on a Tesla Model S, so that's about 3 months and about 400 or so new EV's (again, not an exact science; some IL new EV owners get one of the many special issue or vanity plates, etc.). Let's see how fast we get to the 9000 level.
Also went to the Chicago Auto Show to check out the new EV's -- Nissan did have the new LEAF, an improvement over the first gen; no VW e-Golf but Chevy had 2 Bolt's -- one with cloth base seats and one with the higher trim level -- quite utilitarian but fairly anonymous in styling. Also checked out the PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander -- it was in a rather unusual brown metallic color and priced in the mid $40K range (22 miles of EV range ??). What was more interesting is that the PHEV's from most manufacturers simply did NOT indicate 100% electric range anywhere -- for the price premium over all-gas its almost an afterthought and I guess not important !!
On a side note (and great timing) Tesla now has a Model 3 that you can check out in-person (no test drives yet) at their downtown Gold Coast location -- in red no less; link to store location as well as a fan post from another forum
https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/store/chicagogoldcoast
https://model3ownersclub.com/threads/tesla-gold-coast-model-3-display.5940/