SACRAMENTO - California is going backwards.

Home to nearly 40 million people, it was only a matter of time before the Golden State ran out of license plate numbers.

Since 1980, the Department of Motor Vehicles has relied on a seven-character sequence — one number, three letters, three numbers.

But that ended this year — with the production of the 9ZZZ999 plate, the agency stated.

Now, the state has switched over to a "mirrored" sequence for new plates — three numbers, three letters, and one number.

"Each configuration has over 100 million plate combinations. The new configuration is expected to last 40 years based on historical data," a spokesperson for the DMV told the California Post.

The DMV first announced that they were running out of room in the old plate format three years ago — estimating the switchover would take place late this year or early next.

Interestingly, the landmark, end-of-an-era 9ZZZ999 plate has not yet been issued.

According to the agency spokesperson, there are still more than 110,000 plates with the old format remaining to be issued — stored across the state at DMV and auto club offices.

California's license plates are made at Folsom State Prison — where inmates bang out approximately 45,000 plates per day.

Along with the standard plate, with has a blue license number and "California" written in red script, the state also has 14 special interest license plates.

California also allows personalized plates with two to seven characters. (Source: California Post)

Story Date: October 5, 2026