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License Plate Wars: Electric Car Owners Challenge Former New Yorkers for Vanity Plate Prevalence
Virginia’s personalized plates have long been dominated by people announcing where they used to live. Now electric vehicle owners want everyone to know what they drive.
For years, Virginia’s vanity plate market has been dominated by former New Yorkers, and others from the Northeast, determined to inform complete strangers that they once lived somewhere else. But a new challenger is emerging: electric vehicle owners equally determined to tell everyone something nobody asked about.
Plates like “NY2VA,” “CYA NH,” and “FLED NJ” have long served as rolling announcements that their owners successfully escaped states they apparently still consider their most interesting personality trait.
Now, plates like “NO GAS,” “AMPED,” and “WATTUP” are threatening that dominance, as electric vehicle owners discover that simply driving a car that says TESLA on the back isn’t enough to communicate that it runs on electricity.
“For decades, leaving New York was the most important thing you could tell a stranger at a stoplight,” explained one local. “Now people are realizing they can make an equally unnecessary announcement about their fuel preferences.”
The rivalry has intensified as both groups compete for the attention of motorists who are simply trying to get to work. Former New Yorkers insist that moving to Virginia represents a major life accomplishment, while electric vehicle owners argue that never visiting a gas station is equally worthy of public recognition.
DMV officials are reportedly preparing for the inevitable crossover: former New Yorkers who drive electric vehicles and must somehow communicate both accomplishments in seven characters.
Early suggestions include “NY2EVA,” “NJNO GAS,” and “IMSPCL.”