Chicagoland area

[LeftieBiker]

Here is the topic: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26597&p=537130

[redLEAF]

One curiosity I have here in IL is whether the EVs that mistakenly received normal plates will be allowed to keep them and pay the lower rate or be forced into EV plates.

Vice versa, will the few Volts that somehow received EV plates now be forced back into normal plates.

Agreed on the extra $100 a year for EVs, though nationally that seems to be where things are going. Guess I just need to drive my Leaf more to make the extra fee feel worth it.

Yes -- but 'mistakenly' in many cases is the dealer (like Audi and Jaguar with their newly minted 100% EV's) not even being aware of the IL EL plate program in the first place -- of the very few Audi e-tron's (have seen about a half-dozen) and even fewer Jaguar's (saw just two) NONE had EL plates on them, but have seen a BMW i8 (PHEV) and Kia Niro (the PHEV version not full-electric) with EL plates assigned just like a Chevy Volt, go figure? We have heard that although the EL plates will be more expensive than the current $35/two year renewal, the actual cost per year should be less than the equivalent regular plates for an ICE -- we'll see soon enough as all existing EL plates will renew this coming December so am waiting for my renewal notice from IL SOS to see if we get one more under the existing rules or they charge the new rates (technically we'll renew in 2019 and the new rates go into effect in January 2020). As far as those who have regular, vanity or special plates (Environmental, Route 66, etc.) who knows if they get an EV surcharge on top or simply be charged the going rate for the plate they have -- we'll all see soon enough (and actually that goes as well for our smart EV that has an Environmental plate on it -- I transferred that plate from the ICE smart we traded in -- renews in December)

Didn't realize how long ago my last post was on this topic -- two things, spotted Illinois plate 2056x EL on a black Chevy Bolt so the number of registered EV's in IL has grown a decent amount since the last sighting! Also, the annual renewal fee is no mystery, went up to $251 annually, its a $100/yr surcharge on top of normal plate fees for ICE's; reasoning is EV's pay no gas taxes; not outrageous per se but a far cry from when the state was promoting them at $35/two year renewal. As far as all the non-EL plates on EVs, the IL SOS will 'force' the change to an EL plate with only a few exceptions (have heard just handicapped and possibly Military/Veteran plates -- those folks with these will need to go to an IL SOS office to get them renewed) -- as my smart EV was renewed in 2019 we've got our Environmental plate until the end of the year at least and then it goes on the wall of the garage -- its a leased car but assume that won't make a difference registration-wise.

It also does appear that the handful of new e-Tron's and i-Pace EV's are getting new EL plates as well (I'm sure this seems a pain to dealerships as new EL plates all come from Springfield IL SOS office and can't be 'stocked' at dealerships like ICE stock plates, back to the yellow temp tags) -- seems to be more of the new Audi's then Jaguar's on the road but then the overall sales numbers seem to back this up. The most popular new EV is still the Model 3 around Chicagoland -- on most daily trips seem to spot at least 6 or more. What is even a more rare occurrence is spotting a new LEAF -- perhaps its just not distinctive enough but have seen much fewer of these than the other new EV's in the market. Lastly, the Tesla Model Y should be next to be seen around here -- according to Tesla and other postings, the first on the streets will be the performance AWD -- anyone spot one yet around Chicagoland ? should be a matter of just a few days at most and yes I put an order in for one -- mine will be a LR AWD (non-performance) that will replace my last ICE in the family

[DougWantsALeaf]

I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.

[redLEAF]

I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.

It's been a few months since the last post, now that IL has started to ease COVID-19 restrictions more cars on the roads as well as EV's - highest recent sighting of an EL plate was 2225x EL on a Model 3 so even though most have hunkered down, WFH, etc. over 2K more registrations during the pandemic -- not bad. Have started to see Model Y's out there; does look quite similar to the 3 in traffic, although taller with a hatch, etc. and does have distinctive wheels that do set it apart from a 3 - still not many new Jaguar's or LEAF's; even less Kia's and Niro's.

One other interesting point is that the IL SOS was also just recently reopened and had added 90 days on for people's temp tags as they didn't have staff on hand to process so the actual count is most likely much higher. Later throughout the year when non-EL plate IL residents go to renew their tags we'll see even higher numbers and most likely a better indicator of how many EV's are registered in the state -- state also gave a 90 day extension on plate renewals so may take well into next year to see the impact.

[DougWantsALeaf]

Red leaf

I see a few iPaces on the north side, and recently even a few eTrons. I think I have passed a couple Ys, but not certain.

I will let you know when we get our new EL plates on the number. I agree that many of the Bolts and Leafs and Tesla’s which had normal plates need to be moved over to EL (and pay the higher plate fees). Guessing we will be pushing 30K by end of year.

[redLEAF]

I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.

It's been a few months since the last post, now that IL has started to ease COVID-19 restrictions more cars on the roads as well as EV's - highest recent sighting of an EL plate was 2225x EL on a Model 3 so even though most have hunkered down, WFH, etc. over 2K more registrations during the pandemic -- not bad. Have started to see Model Y's out there; does look quite similar to the 3 in traffic, although taller with a hatch, etc. and does have distinctive wheels that do set it apart from a 3 - still not many new Jaguar's or LEAF's; even less Kia's and Niro's.

One other interesting point is that the IL SOS was also just recently reopened and had added 90 days on for people's temp tags as they didn't have staff on hand to process so the actual count is most likely much higher. Later throughout the year when non-EL plate IL residents go to renew their tags we'll see even higher numbers and most likely a better indicator of how many EV's are registered in the state -- state also gave a 90 day extension on plate renewals so may take well into next year to see the impact.

So almost 4 months and we've passed 278xx EL seen on a Model Y so that's at least a solid 5K additional registrations out and about in Chicagoland -- still big lines at the IL SOS offices (mostly for renewing DL's) but they seem much better prepared for the whole social distancing /masks required thing and people renewing their plates. Next year should be interesting with the next crop of EV offerings, although slow ramp ups I'm sure -- at this pace the 30xxx EL plate threshold may actually happen before the end of the year. Any higher sightings seen please feel free to post - not really ANY incentives per se for new IL EV ownership (vehicle and EV charger installation rebates are long gone - just Fed Tax Credit from those mfg. still under the 200K threshold - Leaf still eligible of course) so this is still encouraging despite the drop in gas prices as well as general state of the economy overall.

[DougWantsALeaf]

Agreed, here in Skokie I see evs every day now. Certainly the lion share are M3 and first gen Leaf, but model Y and Bolts are appearing with greatly frequency now too. Gen2 Leafs are seen (beyond my garage), but are less frequent. Maybe 1 every 3 or 4 days.

Our June Leaf Plus has. 23,xxx plate, so excited to hear how fast the numbers are moving up.

Also agree that the $100 surcharge over ICE for the annual fees, it doesn't make the economics look any better ($251/year for an EV instead of $151/year...up from $35 for 2 years).

[DougWantsALeaf]

Evanston Nissan appears to have found some additional "new" 2019 Leaf Pluses, and is listing them at 28K (SV Plus). If you can qualify for the fed rebate, that's a 21K+tax longish range EV. Not bad.