The (not so) little yellow sticker allows the vehicle wearing it to travel in the carpool lane with a solo driver. The theory was to encourage the adoption of hybrid technology. It worked. The use of the sticker was due to expire at the end of this year. The State Senate though, has seen fit to extend the use of the sticker to mid-2011. Approval of SB 535 is awaiting the governor’s signature. Their thinking is that with the slow rollout of newer technology, it will allow users to replace their hybrids with Nissan LEAFs, if they so desire, without losing the benefit of running late and using the carpool lane when they need to while still stuck with their old-tech Prii. But there’s a catch. There are 85,000 yellow stickers out there currently. These will lose their magic either on January 1, or July 1 if the governor signs the bill, which is likely. The new stickers for Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicles (EAT-PZEVs) will only apply to 40,000 vehicles. Likely the reason for this is because full electric vehicles, like the LEAF, will get free rein in the carpool lane with white carpool lane stickers of their own. While the California government wants to encourage green technology, they want to ensure that there is still room in the carpool lanes for the people that actually are carpooling. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt, at least its first year in production, will not be an EAT-PZEV, and therefore, will not merit a new sticker. Currently the only vehicle known to qualify for the new sticker will be the 2012 Toyota Plug-In Hybrid Prius.