Bonus: HOV access

I didn't realize this when I bought the i-MiEV, but it turns out that electric cars in Maryland get a pass to use the HOV lanes, even with only a single occupant.



(Not mine -- just for illustration.) Of course, it's only two roads, and they aren't ones I often drive on. But still.

Northern CA in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and silicon valley areas have the same thing until Jan 2019. Extremely useful because traffic is very congested during rush hours and some carpool lanes require "3 or more persons"!

I finally got my sticker on Monday, after applying for it on May 11th. I was excited for my car to be official. I had a little trouble putting the sticker on -- I got some bubbles, so I peeled it back and redid it carefully; but in the process, I somehow stretched it (I never would've thought it was stretchy material), so it ended up looking a little warped. Oh well.

They seem to be numbered serially. Mine is #5036, which I think means, more or less, that there are 5036 registered electric cars in Maryland. (Not everyone would apply, to be sure. But, I've found out that this was something the dealer really should've given me when I bought the vehicle, rather than making me send away for it. I'm assuming most people do get their stickers that way.)

(Going through some of my old posts...)

As of September 30, 2022, this program is dead. I had to remove the sticker from my car... and now I gotta think about touching up the paint. D'oh!

I never did actually find a use for the HOV access, yet still somehow I resent the loss of my special privilege.

And I see that this thread completely missed out on what happened when I had to renew the sticker (only once, in the middle of these years), but perhaps I've mentioned that elsewhere...