Whats the New Reg Plate For 2020?

The DVLA has stringent rules regarding number plate fonts, layouts and colors; any person who changes or modifies their plates could face significant fines – especially those using personalized plates.

Each year there are two new number plates released – 23 from March and 73 in September – designed to make electric car ownership more straightforward and accessible. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s registration plates!

What is a number plate?

Every car sold in the UK comes equipped with its own number plate that is unique to it. Each number plate consists of numbers, letters and symbols with certain rules regarding size and spacing for each symbol; their purpose is to help identify vehicles on roads while making them easier to read from a distance.

UK number plates are released every six months: on 1 March and September – to ensure there are enough combinations of letters and numbers available for every vehicle produced in that year. They’re then updated every six months to reflect when it was registered; adding letters to reflect when that happened (ie: March 2023 will feature last two digits while September to February will feature current year (i.e. 2323 for cars registered between September-February).

There are also special issue and personalized plate designs, including those featuring the EU motif in various color schemes and font styles; these plates may be found on vehicles such as taxis or emergency services. Customized number plates may feature their owner’s initials or name as well as different fonts and layouts.

One of the more noteworthy changes in this new generation of number plates is that electric vehicles will now feature a green strip to make them easier to identify and encourage more people to invest in environmentally-friendly transportation alternatives.

What is a year code?

The number plate year code is a two-digit number used to indicate the age of any vehicle registered on its first of March and September, and changes every six months on that day. Cars registered in March feature a 23 code while those registered in September feature a 73 code, making it easy to easily determine how old any given car is.

New plates also include personalized registration numbers that feature letters and numbers as well as logos or designs to give your car its own identity and make a lasting impression. Doing this online makes personalising plates simple – however there are certain rules you must abide by when creating personalized number plates, so please refer to our personalised registration plate guide before doing anything yourself!

There can be various reasons for changing the registration number of your car, such as theft or no longer legal driving status. A change will help police track down and return it back to its rightful owner more easily; additionally, changing your registration number might help maintain privacy when purchasing used cars from private sellers.

The current format of British number plates will continue until 2051 when age identifier will change to ’00’, when it will likely be reviewed and developed into a new system for future registration plates by DVLA. Following this event, new system may include green number plates for cars which could encourage more drivers to switch over to electric vehicles and dispel myths surrounding performance as these green plates aim to raise awareness about them and disprove such beliefs that EVs don’t provide as many advantages over petrol or diesel vehicles.

What is a month code?

The current number plate system came into force in September 2001 and consists of two letters followed by two numbers and then three more letters. The first two letters indicate where your car was registered – LA to LY covers London while MA to MY covers Manchester and Merseyside). Next come four numbers which serve as your age identifiers which change every six months (March to August or September to February) on the middle row of your number plate.

The month code is typically calculated from adding 50 to the last digit of a year date, although there are a few exceptions: January is easily identifiable since it is both letter and number; June’s code can be determined from being seventh month; and September, as its ninth letter has no associated code.

When new age identifiers are released, the DVLA hosts meetings to ascertain whether any permutations of letters and numbers could contain offensive terms or anything that resembles them. Anything found to be too offensive is banned until further review can take place at a later date; this process occurs every time a new number plate format comes into force – which typically happens two times annually on March 1 and September 1. This ensures there are enough combinations of letters and numbers available so all drivers can find valid registration numbers when applying.

What is a character code?

Character codes (or char codes) are sequences of bits that represent letters or symbols within a set of characters. Every character code has been assigned an ASCII value to represent those most widely used on computer systems around the world.

The current number plate format in the UK was introduced in September 2001 and consists of two letters followed by two numbers and then another three letters. The first two letters are known as a ‘local memory tag’ to show where your vehicle was registered; for example, region and DVLA office locations. Meanwhile, middle two numbers represent your age identifier; these change twice every year on 1 March and September 1.

The third and fourth letters have no special significance; if you own a private plate however, these three letters can be customized as you see fit – provided they adhere to DVLA regulations.

Vehicles registered between March and August have their age identifier as the last two digits of their registration number plus 50; for instance if your 2023 car was produced during that registration period it will have its ’23’ code; cars registered between September and February will have theirs (’73’ code). These codes make it easy to identify which car has been produced since its last registration period has begun.

What is a green strip?

A green strip will soon be incorporated into license plate designs of electric vehicles to distinguish them and offer them unique perks that could save them money, such as entry to zero emission zones free of charge.

Car dealers are expected to begin fitting green strip plates onto all new electric cars from 8 December 2020, in response to transport minister Racheal Maclean’s claim that this will unlock “a number of incentives”, although in reality it serves only as an indicator of your car’s zero tailpipe emissions credentials.

Though many EV owners hope the green symbol will provide them with benefits, only fully electric vehicles qualify to receive one; plug-in hybrids or petrol/diesel electric hybrids still emit harmful gases so cannot display its symbol.

Be mindful that your eligibility for green strip plate benefits depends on your local authority, so before purchasing a vehicle with such a plate type it is wise to investigate all that your specific region offers.

Not to be forgotten is that tampering with your number plate is illegal and could cause it to fail an MOT test, as well as incur a fine of up to PS1,000 from DVLA. Therefore, any changes you make must comply with their standards for size, spacing and font usage on the number plate.