It is the single most common issue that enthusiasts face on a daily basis.  How does one share digital pictures of their vehicles or attend car shows without publicly revealing their license plate information to the public.  Until recently, the only choice an enthusiast had was to modify their digital images using computer software, or to completely remove the license plate and reinstall it later—a pain in the rearend (no pun intended). 

The team at Smart Earth Technologies (“SET”) recognized the need for privacy when automotive enthusiasts publish images of their vehicles on the Internet.  Adopting existing technology, SET designed the Stealth Kit.  The Stealth Kit is a bolt-on license plate frame that gives the enthusiast the power to make their license plate invisible at the flip of a switch inside the vehicle.  We think this is an ideal solution to keep the license plate information private when taking pictures of the vehicle or displaying one’s vehicle at a car show or meet.

The Stealth Kit is basically an electronically controlled license plate cover and frame.  The kit features a special lens that uses state-of-the-art nanotechnology lens.

In ‘visible’ mode, the film is transparent and the Stealth Kit is considered active.  The enthusiast may legally operate their vehicle with their license plate in plain view.

When the enthusiast prefers to hide their license plate, they can flip a switch which will prevent electricity from going to the lens, causing it to instantly become opaque.

The Stealth Kit is then in ‘stealth’ mode and the license plate numbers are hidden from site until the enthusiast reactivates the ‘visible’ mode.  

SET originally developed this technology for architectural purposes.  If, for example, a company had a large boardroom with glass walls but wanted to conduct a meeting free of outside eyes, they could make the glass opaque in an instant.    Recently, SET realized this technology would be of value to automotive enthusiasts and subsequently designed and released the Stealth Kit in June of 2005.

The components that make up the Stealth Kit are simple. When we opened the box, there was a frame and lens, a backing plate, a control unit, all necessary electrical pieces (wires and connectors), and detailed instructions.  A constant power source is recommend by SET and is required for a street legal installation.  (When your car is parked on public roads or parking lots, the law requires that your license plate(s) remain visible.) 

The first step in the instructions require that the supplied red power wire be run from the battery to the Stealth Kit’s control unit.

The control unit has to be somewhere in the trunk of the vehicle.  This was intentionally done by SET to insure that users won’t be able to activate or deactivate the lens from the drivers seat to intentionally break the law.

After running the wire through the firewall that separates the engine from the cabin of the vehicle, we removed the interior trim to hide this wire under the carpet and through to the trunk to meet up with the control unit.

The next step in the instructions required that we carefully install the Stealth Kit’s backing plate, lens, and frame along with the vehicle’s license plate.  The metal backing plate attaches directly to the car, the license plate attaches to the backing plate, the lens, which is attached to the frame, screws into the backing plate right over the license plate .  While the backing plate only uses two of the four holes normally used to bolt the license plate to the vehicle, the backing plate is secure when bolted to the vehicle.  One gripe I did have with this part of the instillation was with the 4 screws that are used to hold the somewhat heavy frame / lens to the backing plate. The head of the screws is almost the same size as their respective holes and they just don’t seem significant enough to secure the frame on the car.   I will add that I have had The Stealth Kit on my car for over 1,000 miles and have yet to run into any problems.  The trickiest part of the installation was running the wire from the control unit inside the vehicle to the lens on the outside of the vehicle.  We quickly found it most convenient to run the wires through the same holes used for the bulbs that illuminate the license plate at night.

The supplied wire connectors made it easy to connect the various wires to the control unit. One feature that we were really impressed with were the 3 white LED’s built into the frame of the Stealth Kit.  They clearly illuminate your license plate when you turn on the vehicles headlights. The control unit has a simple toggle switch and a red LED that blinks when there is no power going to the lens notifying the user that the license plate is currently NOT visible. 

We can say that The Stealth Kit works as advertised. It completely hides a license plate (and therefore protects your privacy) with the flick of a switch.  We also love the “cool” and “wow” factor when other enthusiasts saw it in operation at some local car meets where we showed it off.

At $299.99 for the single plate kit or $469 for the dual plate kit, it is a bit pricey, but you are getting some high tech equipment and convenience if you enjoy publishing images of your vehicle on the Internet. 

To order a kit or get more information visit www.StealthKit.com or call 877-477-4827.