redLEAF
Well-known member
Got through to SOS IL and their title section needed to pass me along to another contact who while I got right through I needed to leave a message with. Once I get more details I'll pass them along --- again, so few EV's have been registered in IL I'm not really surprised that this process isn't more mainstream. The main contact did say that there is an application and certification that it's an actual electric powered vehicle (sounds more like for electric conversion vehicles but that's OK, the LEAF is really a breakthrough with so few Tesla's registered as well). As again we all have a few months, this should all be detailed here for future IL LEAF owner's to follow --- more later.
UPDATE -- hey, they called back a little while ago, apparently these plates are only available out of Springfield so they are mailing me an application. The IL Nissan dealer would give us a temporary license plate tag and then the plate would come direct from Springfield SOS office. They haven't gone past the 3-digit mark yet even though that series goes to 4-digits with the 'EL' suffix -- no vanity series are currently available and the plate is NOT required to register an EV. The contact I spoke with said that some owners want vanity tags and have opted to not get the series but of course regular fees + vanity plate fees apply to those 'regular' plates. The 'EL' plates are quite plain but definitely a low numbered series; they are good for two years and the end of the last two-year series is this December ($18/yr; $35/ 2 years); she had mentioned that the state will be increasing their stock of these with the LEAF being available soon so those who want one should be able to get it (this link shows a picture of EV series):
http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=73,2442212&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
If you're in IL and want one of these PM me and I'll send the SOS contact name and number as I believe they will probably only take an original form and not a photo copy -- this also answers the question about the Nissan LEAF I saw on cars.com -- they didn't NEED to use these plates so registered it under regular plates, of course they bought it from out of state and brought it in so they weren't eligible anyway (car needs to be purchased in-state from an IL dealer). Now we all know ... one more footnote, as these 'early adopter' LEAF's will arrive during the 4th Qtr, IL 'pro-rates' the annual plate to $9 + new title charge as well as requires an 'affirmation for EV' form to be completed; no question now as well as these plate forms are serialized (unique number scheme) so you need an original from SOS
UPDATE -- hey, they called back a little while ago, apparently these plates are only available out of Springfield so they are mailing me an application. The IL Nissan dealer would give us a temporary license plate tag and then the plate would come direct from Springfield SOS office. They haven't gone past the 3-digit mark yet even though that series goes to 4-digits with the 'EL' suffix -- no vanity series are currently available and the plate is NOT required to register an EV. The contact I spoke with said that some owners want vanity tags and have opted to not get the series but of course regular fees + vanity plate fees apply to those 'regular' plates. The 'EL' plates are quite plain but definitely a low numbered series; they are good for two years and the end of the last two-year series is this December ($18/yr; $35/ 2 years); she had mentioned that the state will be increasing their stock of these with the LEAF being available soon so those who want one should be able to get it (this link shows a picture of EV series):
http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=73,2442212&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
If you're in IL and want one of these PM me and I'll send the SOS contact name and number as I believe they will probably only take an original form and not a photo copy -- this also answers the question about the Nissan LEAF I saw on cars.com -- they didn't NEED to use these plates so registered it under regular plates, of course they bought it from out of state and brought it in so they weren't eligible anyway (car needs to be purchased in-state from an IL dealer). Now we all know ... one more footnote, as these 'early adopter' LEAF's will arrive during the 4th Qtr, IL 'pro-rates' the annual plate to $9 + new title charge as well as requires an 'affirmation for EV' form to be completed; no question now as well as these plate forms are serialized (unique number scheme) so you need an original from SOS