Digital license plates are now allowed in Michigan thanks to a new state law. It will join California and Arizona as one of the few states in the US that allow digital license plates, allowing drivers to register their cars electronically and eschew old-school metal plates.

To be clear, digital license plates consist of displays covered in glass that are mounted onto a frame. They come with their own computer chips and wireless communication systems. Some of the benefits of using digital licenses versus old metal ones are the ability to display Amber alerts or stolen vehicle messages when needed, but they could also make it easier to digitally renew license plates over the years. That comes at a price, though. Currently, they cost $499 for a basic version, and $799 for a premium version that features a GPS navigation add-on.

A flat fee, an installation cost, and a monthly fee

Getting one of the digital license plates not only costs a lot up front, but there’s also a monthly subscription fee of $7, plus any installation costs. You can’t buy these license plates from any of the states’ Department of Motor Vehicles. Instead, the only contractor operating in California, Arizona, and Michigan is a company called Reviver Auto.

While it took California five years between legally clearing digital licenses to actually seeing the plates appear on the market, the time it takes to get to Michigan users might be a bit quicker considering the plates are presumably a bit further along in production now. The plates are currently available on Reviver’s website for preorder with a ship date of this spring.