California has officially run out of combinations for its current license plate sequence, ending a string of plates dating back to the 1980s.
The state’s license plate sequence for the past 46 years has consisted of one number, followed by three letters, followed by three numbers. But earlier this year, the state ran out of options.
“The long-existing California license plate 9-series configuration, which began with 1AAA000 in 1980, ended with the production of the 9ZZZ999 plate this year,” said Ronald Ongtoaboc, spokesperson for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
So now, California will have to come up with a new combination. License plates are used to connect registered vehicles to their owners and are issued to all passenger vehicles, including commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, permanent trailers, trailer coaches and park trailers registered in the state.
When will license plates with a new sequence be issued?
They’ve already started to be produced, but haven’t yet been issued to drivers, the DMV said. Although the last license plate of the current sequence has been produced, there’s still plenty to be handed out.
“There are more than 110,000 plates with the ‘0AAA000’ format that remain to be issued and are stored throughout DMV and auto club offices across California,” Ongtoaboc said.
With that many still floating out there, officials say not to expect any fanfare when the last plate has finally been issued.
The next sequence will be three numerals, followed by three letters and one numeral.
It will look like, “000AAA0,” for example.
The DMV started rolling out plates with the new configuration earlier this year but the first one hasn’t been issued to a vehicle yet, Ongtoaboc said.
How long is this configuration expected to last?
The new configuration is expected to last 40 years, based on historical data, Ongtoaboc said.
Each configuration has more than 100 million plate combinations.
Where are California’s license plates made?
The state’s license plates are made by prisoners at Folsom State Prison.
Through a partnership between the DMV and the California Correctional Training and Rehabilitation Authority, manufacturing license plates has become a work assignment to more than 100 inmates daily at a factory in the upper yard of Folsom Prison.
Historically, the first license plates were made of steel. Today, they’re manufactured from aluminum with reflective sheeting.
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