New Jersey State Inspection Sticker for EVs

[GeoDosch]

I live in New Jersey, but purchased my new Niro EV in another state. The dealer submitted the necessary paperwork, and a few weeks ago I received my registration card in the mail. There was also a card saying that I needed to take the car to an inspection station's manager's office, and they would give me the windshield inspection sticker that was good for 5 years. This had to be done within 14 days, and I was to put that card on the dashboard in the meantime (sort of like temporary tags.)

Yesterday I realized it had been more than 2 weeks, so at lunchtime I drove to the nearest inspection station. When the guy came outside to put the sticker on, he asked if the car was 100% electric. I said yes, so he said that I don't need a sticker, because there are no emissions to check. I asked him "What about all the other things that get checked in the inspection?", but he just repeated that I don't need a sticker. He added that if an police officer questioned why I don't have a sticker, I could just explain to him that it's an EV and doesn't need one.

I looked on the state's official site and found a list of vehicles that are exempt from inspection, which included EVs. However, that I am still unsure if it's okay to just not have a sticker. New cars in general have stickers that are good for 5 years before the first inspection is due. To follow the above logic, they could just go without a sticker, and if you get pulled over, you could explain to the cop that the car is less than 5 years old.

I want to know if anyone else in NJ has an inspection sticker on their new EV, whether it was supplied by the dealer or from a state inspection station, or if you can confirm that it's not needed. TIA!

 

[hobbit]

That seems nutsoid. An EV can still develop bad brakes and send you sailing through a storefront...

I grew up in Joisey. I had a small motorcycle too. It was certainly subject to inspections. For the
cars, the inspection stations had a fancy set of floor plates for testing independent per-wheel stopping
power and brake balance. And of course the tailpipe sniffer. They were pretty picky about rust holes, too.

So they've developed that extent of laxity at the other end of the spectrum, and they still won't let
people pump their own gas??

_H*

 

[GeoDosch]

Inspection used to be a yearly thing in NJ, and the list of what they tested was extensive, with emission testing added in 1974. Getting a car through inspection, especially an older one, was a major hurdle, since the inspectors would look for any nit they could find to fail you. As time went on they dropped some tests. For instance, they used to check headlight alignment by by putting a gizmo in front of the car and seeing where the center of the beams were, and would fail you of they were off. (Every time I'm blinded by someone with out-of-whack headlights I'm irked that they no longer check that.) They also switched from every year inspection to every 2 years, and new car's first inspection from 2 years to 5 years. One thing I find incredible is that cars 1995 or older don't require any inspection. Common sense says that it's the older cars that are likely to have problems.