E-ZPass: Improving the Aesthetics

From North Carolina to Maine and New Jersey to Illinois, we all love our E-ZPass transponders. They allow us to zip through turnpike tolls without stopping, or at least without having to dig out our wallets. In Pennsylvania, E-ZPass users also enjoy discounted tolls.

But I’ve never liked the look of the transponders, at least the type most commonly used, which is designed to be stuck onto the inside of your front windshield using a clever type of interlocking tape, Dual Lock, made by 3M. The problem? The transponder, about the size of a deck of playing cards, is white. Looking at your vehicle from the outside, the thing sticks out like a sore thumb—at least to my eyes. It’s especially noticeable in a black vehicle, like my 2019 XC90.

At first, I thought I had a simple solution—spray paint my transponder black. When looking at my vehicle, it would virtually disappear behind the tinted portion of the front windshield, especially as my XC90 has a charcoal interior. I Googled around a bit and found that others had painted their transponder with no adverse effect on the transponder’s performance. Great.

But there was still an issue. The Dual Lock tape strips that ship with the transponder are technically clear in color, but they’re also very thick. Fastened to two spots on the back of the transponder, the tape is very visible between your transponder and your windshield. Net result, my black transponder, in use, wouldn’t really be pure black.

Once again, fairly simple solution. I purchased some black Dual-Lock tape online. It came in a strip ½” wide by 12” long, which was easily cut to size. I then pried the standard-issue clear tape off the back of the transponder, and replaced it with the black tape—and stuck the transponder to my window.

I did this over the winter, but haven’t written about it until now because I wanted to make sure the tape held up to the extremes of summer weather. More specifically, I wanted to make sure the adhesive didn’t melt in the hot summer sun and allow the transponder to fall off the windshield. I keep my Volvo garaged most of the time, but it was out in the sun for trips many times this summer and the transponder is still snugly in place, as you can see (but just barely!) in the photo to the right. For comparison purposes, I’ve also included at the end of the article a photo of the standard white E-ZPass in my wife’s S80, which has a much lighter interior.

Note that if you try to do this with your E-ZPass you need to make sure you’re buying Dual Lock tape, not garden-variety Velcro tape, which doesn’t have the same holding power. Also make sure that not only is the interlocking side of the Dual Lock tape black, but that back side, with the adhesive on it, is also black. I found some Dual Lock tape at my local big-box home improvement store, but the back (adhesive) side was not black.

I paid about $3 plus shipping for two strips of the right stuff from a retailer I found online, Johnson Plastics Plus. At the time, it called the product JRS 3M 1/2” x 12” Dense Dual-Lock with Adhesive Backing, SKU: GB09400. I can’t find that exact item now on their website, but this seems to be the same thing: Simply 1/2” x 12” Dual-Lock with Adhesive Backing, SKU: SDUALK. In the photo of a similar item I’ve attached at the end of this article, you’ll see that the raised nibs of the tape form a wavy pattern. In the material I bought, the nibs run in a straight line. But the concept is the same.

To use Dual Lock tape to mount an E-ZPass transponder, you simply cut four strips about 1½” long each. You peel off the paper backing on two of the pieces and affix those strips to the back of your E-ZPass (the side that faces out from the windshield). Then you snap the other two strips onto them. Next, you peel off the paper backing of those two strips, press the unit against your windshield for about a minute, and let go. If you need to remove the transponder (maybe you want to use it in another vehicle for the day), the Dual Lock pieces will pull apart, leaving two strips affixed to the back of the transponder and two on your windshield. Later, you can snap the transponder back in place.

Is all this going a little overboard to camouflage a device that millions of people use just as it is? I suspect most people would say yes. Nonetheless, I’m glad I did it.

Standard white E-ZPass transponder in gold S80 with light interior