Why Do Cars Have Fuel Doors on Different Sides?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2009/08/why-do-cars-have-fuel-doors-on.html

by dangoldin • 17 years ago

10 23 17 years ago

jballanc2• 17 years ago

As interesting as the idea is, I don't think the analogy with Darwinian evolution quite holds. In order for something to act as a selective pressure it needs to actually exert pressure. That is, just simply saying, "Well, if it weren't that way, then certainly someone would jump in with an alternative" doesn't work as an explanation because it's never happened. Taking it back to biology, it's as if someone asked "Why don't we have 3 eyes?" You could come up with all sorts of reasons why 3 eyes might be worse than 2, but until someone is actually born with 3 eyes and has trouble surviving because of it, none of your reasons would be valid selective pressures.

Edit: As to the original question, I imagine the right answer is something more along the lines of: where to place the fuel door is considered rather unimportant, and so left until last. At that point, it goes wherever it will fit...

ihartley• 17 years ago

Most manufacturers put the fuel door on the opposite side from the exhaust pipes. Also, even though it may not seem like a specific side would make any difference in the performance of the car, but when the tank/door are on the opposite side from the driver it keeps the suspension more balanced than if it's on the same side. As such, many performance cars have the gas cap on the right

gojomo3• 17 years ago

I think you're right that such pressure has not been applied via market selection, in that a carmaker has never been advantaged/disadvantaged by its choice of fuel door sides.

However, merely realizing that such counterplanning would be possible, should a bias to one side emerge, does provide pressure in a game-theoretic sense. It makes any attempt to synchronize a car fleet on one-side self-defeating, even in the thought-experiment stage. So it works at the level of conscious strategy, for any design team that even begins to consider a placement strategy other than 'whatever fits our other choices'.

jballanc2• 17 years ago

You're making a big assumption that "putting them all on the same side" has ever been seriously considered or that, were it considered, the result of jamming up gas stations was considered. Without empirical evidence to support these assumptions, Occam's Razor would have me believe that it's as simple as: nobody's really thought about it (other than, as pointed out above, to balance the suspension in high-performance vehicles).

bendtheblock• 17 years ago

I read it as saying that the decision to standardise fuel door position has never been taken because there is no percieved advantage; only the risk of having everyone queue on the same side of the pumps. There's been no need to change this approach since no choice (left/right) has so far affected the 'survival' of a car model.

ankeshk• 17 years ago

Why not have the fuel door in the center - either in the front of the car or at the back?

jack7890• 17 years ago

Might be harder to directly access the fuel tank (since either the engine or trunk would be in the way)?

thyrsus• 17 years ago

There have been consumer, production, cars with the fuel door in the back. I believe the early Mustangs had that feature.

ars2• 17 years ago

Many old cars have the door behind the license plate in the back.

It's not easy to find if you don't know it's there. It's not common anymore.

jonsen2• 17 years ago

Safety precautions, I think. It might increase the risk af damage to the tank in a collision.

arithmetic• 17 years ago

I've wondered why different cars have fuel doors on different sides, but have always believed that car companies just never agreed on a standard. I'm glad that's not the case and that there really is a reason.

varjag• 17 years ago

I don't think it's really the case, more like a writer fascinated with Darwinism and equilibrium finding them everywhere.

kselich• 17 years ago

where I live, the fuel hose reaches either side of the car, isn't it like that where you live?

ars2• 17 years ago

Sometime, often actually. But not everywhere.

If the hose is too long it dangles on the floor, so they try to avoid that with springs holding it up, but I assume that costs extra.

diN0bot• 17 years ago

maybe the long fuel lines are not long enough to reach around superawesomemegabigsuv4x4hummertrucks.

on a different note, i've always wondered why the bike chains are always on the right side.

netsp• 17 years ago

Even if they do, most people don't know that (seemingly) or don't trust that so they go to the 'right' side anyway.

Edinburger• 17 years ago

I don't like to take the fuel hose over to the other side of my car because I don't want the dirty hose to touch the paintwork.

rossriley• 17 years ago

I'm not sure if this is true across all models but someone who works in the industry once told me that the dashboard graphic of the fuel tank is situated the same side of the speedometer as the tank is on the car.

So if you get into a car and the fuel indicator is to the left of the speedometer, your fuel tank is too. I've only had a couple of cars but it seems to be the case so far.

gojomo3• 17 years ago

Most modern dashboard fuel indicators -- and certainly dashes in rental cars -- include a little triangle pointing to the side with the gas cap.

gojomo3• 17 years ago

I suspect there's more to this story than this 'just so from a biz/econ/evolutionary' analysis.

For example, somewhere, sometime, there must have been a regulator or dominant local supplier that achieved de-facto side-standardization. Did the gas-station-clumping emerge, or a later-entrant benefit from opposite-placement?

Is there a car census anywhere to tell us if regions have different distributions, or if it approaches 50/50 everywhere? (That writer who tallied driver cellphone use could tackle this next.)

Did gas cap placement migrate to the sides -- and higher off the ground -- because the old center-rear gas caps were too low, too dangerous in crashes?

delayclose• 17 years ago

I had always thought European cars had the door on the passenger side, while Japanese and American cars had it on the driver's side. I admit to not having driven all that many cars, especially American ones, but I don't think I've ever encountered a counterexample. I'm sure one is forthcoming, though :)

bhousel• 17 years ago

When I was in high school, one of our teachers was actually struck and killed by another car while refueling his own car on the side of the road late at night. I know it's a remote risk, but I'll still always prefer a car that has the fuel door on the passenger side just to be safe.

Why Do Cars Have Fuel Doors on Different Sides?

Related Stories