The prerequisite is that the vehicles fall into the same vehicle class and license plates of the same dimensions can be used on the vehicles.
The license plate consists of a common prefixed license plate part, which is attached to the respective vehicle used with the registration sticker, and a short vehicle-related license plate part, which remains attached to the respective vehicle with the HU sticker and represents the last digit of the - composite - license plate.
This regulation ensures that the vehicle used on the road has a complete license plate. The vehicle that is not currently on the road can still be identified as a vehicle with an interchangeable license plate, as the letter-number combination of the common part is also shown in lower case on the vehicle-related part of the license plate.
Single-line, two-line and motorcycle license plates can be designed as interchangeable license plates. It is not technically possible to design a reduced two-line light motorcycle license plate as an interchangeable license plate.
The allocation of variable license plates increases the fee for vehicle registration by 6 euros per vehicle.
Interchangeable license plates are possible for:
- Class M1: Vehicles for passenger transportation with a maximum of eight seats in addition to the driver's seat
- Class L: motorcycles, four-wheeled light motor vehicles and four-wheeled motor vehicles up to 550 kilograms unladen mass, excluding the mass of the batteries in electric vehicles and maximum useful power up to 15 kilowatts
- Class O1: Trailers up to 750 kilograms maximum permissible mass
It is not possible to use an interchangeable license plate for a passenger car and a motorcycle or to register more than two vehicles on one interchangeable license plate.
Excluded from interchangeable license plates are
- Seasonal license plates
- Red license plates
- Short-term license plates
- Export license plates
Vehicles with "H license plates" (classic car license plates), on the other hand, are eligible for the variable license plate.