The future of licence plates – Enter electronic vehicle identification

The German licence plate manufacturer TÖNNJES pursues the goal of giving vehicles around the world a clear identity. In collaboration with a company that manufactures semiconductors, NXP, AutoID, Kathrein Solutions, they’ve developed and manufactured plates and vignettes on the basis of electronic vehicle identification, EVI for short. Vehicles can be identified contact-free and in moving traffic using authorised readers. The innovative technology has overtaken the previous method of optical recognition. It also opens new digital possibilities for the traffic and mobility of tomorrow.

“The global population is growing continuously. Cities need to concern themselves with alternative solutions to handle complex, modern traffic management,” explains Jochen Betz, MD at TÖNNJES. 

“We believe that EVI represents the basis for smart city applications as it enables efficient and contemporary identification processes.” 

EVI will potentially revolutionise access control, toll collection systems, implementing environmental zones, modernising payment processes and sustainably protect against vehicle theft and licence plate forgery.

Both the forgery-proof licence plates and stickers, are destroyed when removed, and are equipped with a specially manufactured passive chip, the UcodeDNA® from NXP. This transfers data over several metres in a contactless and secure way. The chip contains a unique, encrypted identification number which can be decoded by authorised readers in stationary and moving traffic. 

“We are helping authorities and registration offices to work much more efficiently in the future,” explains Ralf Kodritsch at NXP. In his opinion, these technologies form the ideal basis to digitalise the entire vehicle identification field. In addition, electronic recording could also represent a significant improvement in the status quo in view of the urgently needed digitalisation. 

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