Ran into this guy today

As far as the lowest, I think "1" is owned by one of the senators that campaigned for the plate in the first place, and yes, it is on a Tesla. They were up to 27xx when they issued mine in Jan, if it helps your quest.

Interesting. I thought Illinois EL plates were only available for specific makes and models of vehicles - when I got my plate, the Sec'y of State office told me that they had a list of qualified makes/models.

As for Cullerton's "1 EL" plate, that was a political favor for him from White's office. The EL plate program was available before the Tesla Model S was available, but Illinois hadn't handed anything out less than 3 digits. Officially, Illinois started with 101 EL for mere mortals like us. There's a long history of Illinois' low-number license plates being traded for money and political favors.

I did not know that Ford created such a vehicle.

tdelta1000 said:

I did not know that Ford created such a vehicle.

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They didn't. It must be a DIY conversion.

Ford made it around the time of the original RAV4 EV, it was a compliance car from the first round of CARB's ZEV program.

Ford did make a limited number of Rangers Electric. http://www.evnut.com/ranger_sale_text.htm

Ford indeed created such a vehicle---and leased quite a few of them. It was a rear wheel drive pickup that competed with the front wheel drive Chevrolet S10-EV. I believe it had a Seimens electric motor and inverter. They were one of the few vehicles (like the Rav4-EV) that were sold to leaseholders if they wanted them after the lease expired. Unlike the GM EV-1 mess, Ford finally agreed to sell the vehicles. They were powered by Panasonic EV-95 NiMH batteries and therefore it is why you still see these "Antiques" on the road.

siai47 said:

Ford indeed created such a vehicle---and leased quite a few of them. It was a rear wheel drive pickup that competed with the front wheel drive Chevrolet S10-EV. I believe it had a Seimens electric motor and inverter. They were one of the few vehicles (like the Rav4-EV) that were sold to leaseholders if they wanted them after the lease expired. Unlike the GM EV-1 mess, Ford finally agreed to sell the vehicles. They were powered by Panasonic EV-95 NiMH batteries and therefore it is why you still see these "Antiques" on the road.

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Interesting. I thought the only ones were converted. That explains how he got the EV plates, then - it was a production EV.

I stand corrected, and cool vehicle!

There were a few S10s that escaped the EV-1 fiasco. I saw one in a parking lot in Santa Clara, Ca about 8 years ago. I wonder if any are still around?

And yeah - Illinois does have a somewhat sordid history WRT the low license plate number game. A relative of mine played that game for years. Got into the teens on his motorcycle. Apparently members of some Harley club got all the single digit plates.