Fuel filler cap location

[devilmaycare]

In yesterday's Times, Questions Answered, there was some discussion concerning why fuel filler caps are located on a particular side of a car. The consensus was that the filler cap is located on the opposite side to the driver, applicable to the car's country of origin. The idea being to facilitate fill-ups from pumps located at the kerbside. This convention does seem to apply to European and UK cars, but no mention was made of a significant exception to this rule, namely US cars. Can anyone offer an explanation as to why US cars don't follow this convention? Maybe its only Chrysler that's different? As we no longer have kerbside pumps in the UK (unless, maybe, in some remote country areas), my own preference is to have the driver and filler cap located on the same side (as in my Audi), as this saves walking round the car. Perhaps this is the logic behind the US convention?

[badger]

I don't know the answer, but I can say that every landrover I've ever owned has had the filler on the right, my last rover had it on the left, the wife's peugeot has it on the right, so it seems to be sort of random (ish)!
I always had a theory years ago that exhausts exited on the opposite side from the kerb in a vain attempt to protect the public, but this also was blown to bits so no idea.

[Rambit]

It's the same thing for the door that has the key hole. Ours are on the left (proper...haha) drivers door and so are yours except it's the passenger side. I guess it saves money to have everything as much as possible the same as the NA cars.

I see what you're getting at though. I think I'd find it irritating to have to walk around the car too.

Bernie

[chuckkent]

I don't know of any logic....just look at your gas gauge icon and it will let you know. If there is any logic it should be between the tires on the drivers side for navigation and impact protection......

[fadertoo]

Even US cars vary from the norm sometimes. My '94 Ford Thunderbird had the filler on the right side. I would sometimes have to pull the car around in the other direction after having absentmindedly parked to the right of the pump.

I've personally thought the logical way is to have the filler on the driver's side, no matter the market, but that would certainly add complexity to multi-market vehicles like ours. My logic is that we right-side drivers (notice my deft avoidance of the term "right-way" ) tend to steer and park to the right side of things when there's no reason to do otherwise. That goes for filling pump islands and even square-box convenience stores that sit in the middle of a concrete slab. We typically park in an anti-clockwise direction around objects - to the right - of whatever, so having the filler on the left of our cars goes along with what just feels right for the side of the pump island on which we would tend to park. If my logic holds, you would normally tend to park to the left of the island and having the filler on the right with the driver's door would feel most normal.

Your keyhole is on the passenger door? So if for some reason you don't use the remote, you unlock the car on the passenger side and then have to walk around to enter the driver's door? Now that to me would be, as I guess you might say, a royal pain in the arse! Don't we have keyholes on both doors? Geez! Now I'm gonna have to go have a look!

[watsonofearnock]

When you think back to the old Ford Corsair with the filler cap behind the back number-plate. Made a lot of sense - you were never at the "wrong" side. Not only that but it was tidy too. One good idea that never caught on - mind you I never liked the rest of the Corsair - but each to their own!!
Cheers John

[devilmaycare]

I remember a few years back, waiting my turn behind a Jag to fill up and noticing that the Jag had twin filler caps: one each side. I suppose that's another way of hedging bets. The car must have had twin fuel tanks as both fillers were used.

[marlin1111]

It's because thay are Americian & just do things different to the rest of the world! Yes I have had a number of trips there and seen many example of this!!

Marlin1111

[badger]

I used to have a Jaguar XJ6 2-door coupe many years ago (the only car I really regret selling!). It had a 10.5 gallon (UK gallons, that is!) in each rear quarter and the twin filler caps as stated in an earlier post.
Driving back north from the motor show at the NEC in Birmingham (the year that Jaguar unveiled the XJ220) we pulled into a quiet motorway services and for a laugh parked dead-centre between 2 pumps - I took one side, my father took the other, and we filled her up! My, did we get some real strange looks, lol. Happy memories.

[gizmo]

This might not answer why but where.

Car Secrets: Which Side Is the Gas Tank On? - AOL Video Blog

Also Fadertoo seems to have hit on it according to.

Bryan Caplan, Robert Frank, and The Economist in gas station confusion » knackeredhack