- Not all areas enforce front license plate laws.
- Tesla typically delivers vehicles without license plate holders installed.
- Many Tesla owners are car enthusiasts who care more about aesthetics than potential tickets.
- Non-permanent license plate holders like SnapPlate are available.
1. Not all areas enforce front license plate laws
Many states don't require front license plates, but even in states that do, outside of major cities, enforcement of those laws can vary widely.Take California, for example. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, parking enforcement officers will often write tickets for no front plate since it makes parking enforcement harder and it's easy revenue for the cities, but enforcement is much less common in smaller citities.
In either case, they are typically "fix-it" tickets that can be signed off by an officer with a small fee once they're corrected, but there is still a financial cost and time spent fixing it. As a result, many owners simply go without a front plate until they are cited and then install a non-permanent mount like SnapPlate just long enough to sign the ticket off.
2. Tesla typically delivers vehicles without plate holders installed
With one exception, Tesla has crash tested and delivered vehicles to customers without the OEM license plate holder installed. Instead, it's in the trunk at delivery. This is very different from traditional car manufacturers and it's not 100% clear why they do it this way, but here are some likely reasons:- Many states don't require front license plates, so Tesla doesn't install them at the factory.
- Instead, cars are delivered to customers with the adhesive or screwed-on mount in the trunk and the delivery center will install it on request, but many customers choose removable mounts like SnapPlate instead.
- This ultimately saves Tesla money when customers install the mounts themselves.
3. Many Tesla owners are car enthusiasts
Some car owners are just looking for an appliance to get from point A to point B, but enthusiasts value much more about their chosen vehicles. They join clubs, deck their vehicles out with accessories, and put extra thought and care into every aspect of how the vehicle looks and performs.
Just like Porsche, Subaru, Jeep, Rivian, and many others, Tesla owners are often enthusiasts who care about how their vehicles look and they don’t like the perceived blemish of a front license plate. There are many reasons for this:
- Front license plate holders typically require drilling holes for screws in the bumper or using semi-permanent adhesives that damage paint over time.
- Most holders will damage costly paint protection film and vinyl wraps that are popular with enthusiasts.
- Enthusiasts often post photos and videos on social media and prefer to not have their license plates on display or they don’t want to have to blur them (sometimes unsuccessfully 👇).
4. Non-permanent license plate holders are available
Most vehicles have one front license plate mount option that is supplied by the manufacturer and is typically installed by drilling holes in the bumper or using semi-permanent adhesives.
Teslas, however, have many aftermarket accessories available including removable front license plate holders like SnapPlate that resolve all of the enthusiasts’ concerns with the OEM mounts:
- Easy to install when you’re traveling to areas that enforce license plate use and remove the rest of the time.
- Doesn’t require drilling holes or using adhesives (which can fail if not installed correctly).
- Doesn’t damage the paint or bumper.
- Available in safety-optimized SnapPlate or strength-optimized SnapPlate+ versions.
A growing trend
While the lack of front license plate use has been a thing for vehicle enthusiasts for generations, there's no doubt that the popularity of Tesla and the huge number of them on the road has made it much more apparent. Whether you're a strict law-follower or not, I think we can all agree that we don't want to drill holes in our cars and it would be great if manufacturers gave us better options. Until then, we'll keep running SnapPlates on our vehicles.
