Launched last September, there’s no denying that the JPJePlate, which is specifically meant for use on electric vehicles (EV), provides the type with a unique identity through its distinct physical appearance.
Now, whether you’re indifferent to it being there or are chuffed to bits that it’s on doesn’t really matter if you’re a new EV owner, because its use is mandatory on all new EV registrations, but apparently some motorists who don’t have an EV think the plate is the bee’s knees, so much so they’ve taken to replicating that look on plates for their internal combustion engine vehicles.
Case in point, the vehicle you see in the photo here. Posted yesterday on the MyEVOC Facebook page, it shows a Mercedes-Benz vehicle bearing a JPJePlate, or in this case, a licence plate replicated to look exactly like a JPJePlate.
The giveaway that it isn’t kosher is that it’s on an A 250 sedan, which when everyone last looked isn’t an EV. In any case, while it may look like it, it’s not a real IDePlate as issued through official channels or authorised installers, given the missing ‘Rear’ identifier and QR code on the lower right side of the plate, which is where the digital signature is supposed to be on the legit one.
We reached out to Handal Ceria to ask if they were aware that such activity was happening, and the reply was that the plate isn’t legit and that the company has already lodged a complaint with the road transport department (JPJ) to take action over the matter.
The thing is, it’s not the first time a plate styled as such has been sighted on an ICE vehicle, and given the manner enforcement on fancy/non-regulation traditional licence plates has worked out so far, it surely won’t be the last unscrupulous attempt to come about.
Right now, the discrepancy is easily spotted when referenced to the vehicle it is attached on, but things could get murky if the plate is eventually standardised for all new vehicles in Malaysia, which is what the government is looking to work towards, specifically in terms of cloning and fake plates. But, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
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