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Why is it a good thing to standardise? Given that most petrol stations have equal access for both sides, you'd start losing efficiency once the number of standa
by askvictor 10y ago
Why is it a good thing to standardise? Given that most petrol stations have equal access for both sides, you'd start losing efficiency once the number of standardised cars reached a certain proportion. I figure that by that point, electric cars will have rendered this obsolete. If the entire nature of transportation hasn't changed by that point. And civilisation as we know it still exists.
- tyingq 10y agoThere's also usually a good distribution of cars approaching the pumps from opposite directions.
- askvictor 10y agoI'm seeing most stations attempting to have a single directional flow. Doesn't stop people going against it, mind you, but the intention is there.
- yes_or_gnome 10y agoIn California (at least), the pumps work regardless of which side the car is parked on. The hoses are longer and the hands free mechanism is very different from the east coast. Actually, I prefer to extend the hose over the car as it feels more sturdy. So, dictating which side the fuel door is on doesn't necessarily create gas pump asymmetry.
- Broken_Hippo 10y agoIf that were the standard, it would no longer matter which side the hose is on. I'm from the midwest: If you pull into a gas station, it is highly unlikely that the hose will stretch across the car. I'd report on the hoses here in Norway, but honestly I haven't driven since I moved here a few years back.
- SmellyGeekBoy 10y agoI don't think I've ever come across a hose that doesn't stretch to the opposite side of the car here in the UK. It always makes me laugh to see people queuing for a particular side when the pumps on the other side are all vacant.
- bluetomcat 10y agoThe hose would stretch, but it could touch the body of the car and filling on the other side isn't as convenient because the hose gets bent near the handle. A similar number of cars with LHS/RHS filler caps would make for some nice load balancing at the pumps, but the problem is that most European and American manufacturers put it on the right side, regardless of vehicle model. Japanese cars sold in the US and Europe mostly have it on the left because the cars were originally designed for LHT and the engineers didn't bother to switch it. Many Nissans also have the dials of the dashboard in the center in order to cut some expenditure in producing LHT/RHT cars.
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y agoWhy don't they just drive in from the other direction?
- cillian64 10y agoUK petrol stations usually have a marked entrance and exit giving an implicit one-way system. Along with the quite tight dimensions, it's quite tricky to approach the pump from the other direction.
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y agoThat's something that never occurred to me. Even in cities, US gas stations have plenty of room to turn around if you need to approach a pump from the other side.
- lb1lf 10y agoNorwegian hoses are, in general, too short to reach over the car. (If they're long enough, you've probably wound up at a truck pump, and had better think twice before pulling the trigger on the filler pistol...) My filler cap is on the left (Toyota Land Cruiser); my wife cannot remember which side the cap is on, but she DOES remember that she can spot the lid using the mirrors, so we're both happy.