Could RFID Be Used to Track Stolen Motor Vehicles?

And if so, how might this be accomplished?

—Name withheld

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Radio frequency identification is increasingly being utilized to identify vehicles. In Bermuda, for example, most of the island nation’s cars and trucks currently have RFID-enabled registration stickers attached to their windshields. Other nations—including Brazil, China, Dubai, India, Mexico and South Africa—have either already begun implementing RFID-enabled vehicle-identification and -registration systems, or are currently eyeing them. So the technology can be used to identify a stolen vehicle.

That said, RFID is not effective for tracking stolen cars, as it is a short-range technology. Even long-range active RFID transponders have a read range of only 3,000 feet (914 meters) or so. To track vehicles, you would need to install RFID readers on every street corner, which just wouldn’t be feasible. GPS-based tracking devices are far more cost-effective for this type of application.

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal