Let’s find out what changes digital license plates will bring to the automobile industry as well as the society in general.

These days it’s easy to find ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) in large marts such as department stores, large scale marts, etc. ESL is a device that displays the name of a product and its price information digitally which used to be on paper. The previous paper price tag had to go through unnecessary processes of printing and coating every time there was a change; replacing it with ESL not only has decreased the time of work but also consumption of unnecessary paper. Also, ESL can easily show additional product information such as sold out status and discount price via wireless communication.

Emart Jukjeon branch, which actually implemented ESL, reduced their simple repeated work of managing price tags by more than 90%. Large distribution businesses such as Shinsegye, Lotte, and Home Plus are aggressively getting into the implementation of ESL to enhance their efficiency.

Advent of digital license plate, which connects the car to the network

The first digital license plate, ‘RPlate PRO’ (Source: RPlate)

There’s also the automobile industry just like the distribution industry that’s expecting changes through the electronic display. It’s ‘Digital License Plate’. Just like ESL we’ve seen previously, it’s a technology that replaces existing license plates with digital ones.

In January 2018, The Detroit Motor Show 2018 held in the U.S. saw the introduction of a digital license plate with the name of 'RPlate PRO'. Just like ESL, the digital license plate also uses electronic ink. As it does not consume too much battery, it can sufficiently be charged with solar power.

The focus of digital license plate is personalization. The car number is maintained, and yet drivers can add customized information. In case of RPlate PRO, drivers can design their own license plate on their smart phone app as long as they conform to the car number and standard image regulations.

You can even send out messages on the license plate. For example, you can display information you wish to let others know on the road such as a car being driven by a disabled person or a pregnant person and a car with babies or children inside. Also, if a car is stolen, you can control the app and show on the digital license plate that the car has been stolen.

You can expand the scope of utilization if you sync it to the parking lot IoT (Internet of Things) sensors. Using the digital license plate won’t require you to take out the receipt to check the parking time. You show the parked time on the digital license plate and sync it to the app for an easier display. For disabled and pregnant drivers’ cars, through officially certified information on their digital license plates, they can park their cars in the priority lot without a concern. Syncing your bank account or credit card with the digital license plate will make the parking fee payment a lot easier too.

You can show various information on digital license plates.

Digital license plates are likely to be useful not just for the drivers but also for the government and corporates. First of all, governments can use digital license plates to control the flow of cars on the road. If the mobility status is shared on the congested highway via digital license plates, drivers can check the traffic real time. If emergency situations were to take place on the road, digital license plates could make a quick warning. As for the corporates, they can go for efficient marketing as they show customized advertisements on the digital license plates.

On the other hand, there are issues that are of concern with the implementation of digital license plate. As a license plate becomes a sort of device, it could be hacked to get certain information or show false information. In case of RPlate PRO mentioned before, it’s trying to up the security for personal information by having the same security standards as online banking.

The cost of replacement is also an issue. As a digital license plate requires a display, it will be more expensive than an existing license plate, and additional costs will occur upon any repairs. When the display gets broken, the problem of not being able to check the car number in an emergency situation also would occur.

Cities pursuing the implementation of digital license plate

Dubai, following the U.S., is trying to implement digital license plates.

Despite the said problems, the digital license plate is getting much attention as it can provide various additional functions when a car is connected to the network. At the moment, digital license plates are being distributed around America. Starting with California and Arizona, many states such as Michigan, Washington and Maryland, are testing or legally implementing them. Dubai is also aggressively pursuing the implementation of digital license plate. They’re testing connecting the drivers’ accounts with the license plates to automatically make payment for parking fee and fine, etc., and using digital license plates to have ambulances locate cars in emergencies. A research in collecting information for traffic and accidents, etc., through digital license plates is also being conducted.

As Korea has recently changed the license plate system into the 8-digit system, replacement of license plates is expected to increase. If a discussion regarding the digital license plate expands at this point, maybe Korea will see a quicker distribution than other countries. The expansion of digital license plates is likely to contribute to acquiring data on the road to establish the automatic driving system and smart city in the future. Here’s hoping digital license plates will develop further, through complementing its flaws and accentuating its advantages.

Written by Gyeong-min Hyun (Connecting Lab)