Why is the charge port in the back instead of the front?

[AudubonB]

I have a simple question to those that claim that they always back in, and it is the easiest and safest way to park: Why do 99.9% of people park with nose-in, if the backing in is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Although your "99.9%" is hyperbole, I will acceded that, in the US at least, a lot - and probably the majority - of drivers do prefer to park nose-in. My answer to your question is, with exceptions, that is testimony to those drivers' ineptitude with automobiles. There ARE exceptions, such as a tacit admission that other drivers in a parking lot likewise are dingbatty enough not to provide appropriate leeway to a vehicle that is about to execute a back-up/back-in maneuver, which just demonstrates a further degree of incompetence and rudeness in the driving community.

Regardless, as long as cars have as the front axle their turning axle, it always will be easier to back into a spot than to nose in . 100% of the time. Stomp and rant and hissyfit all you want, but that's an indisputable law of mechanics. And with Tesla's back-up cameras - good gravy, it can't get any easier!

 

[stopcrazypp]

I've wondered about this myself. Personally, I think Tesla went with what is most familiar to drivers and most ICEs have it on the driver side (definitely a not-small number have it on passenger side though). But I've seen Volts around town parked on the street with the charger cord going across and sticking into the street. I always wonder why Chevy and Tesla didn't put the charger on the passenger side so it would face the curb when on the street.

They put it on driver's side because it is more convenient for daily use at home (don't have to walk around the car to plug it in). It was not designed primarily with public charging in mind.

 

[hiroshiy]

As a guy living in Japan where Leaf was born, I think front port is because American people always drive in to parking spots. Apparently Nissan had a very hard time to design front port in a natural way... In Japan nobody parks drive in, and we even have a mandatory parallel parking test to get a driver's license

Our Tesla is RHD and the port is on the left, so it's actually on the passenger side. I think this is fairly flexible that I can use drive in style charging stations by backing in to the spot, and I can also use curbside charging stations easily because they are on my left side!

 

[caddieo]

Although your "99.9%" is hyperbole, I will acceded that, in the US at least, a lot - and probably the majority - of drivers do prefer to park nose-in. My answer to your question is, with exceptions, that is testimony to those drivers' ineptitude with automobiles. There ARE exceptions, such as a tacit admission that other drivers in a parking lot likewise are dingbatty enough not to provide appropriate leeway to a vehicle that is about to execute a back-up/back-in maneuver, which just demonstrates a further degree of incompetence and rudeness in the driving community.

Regardless, as long as cars have as the front axle their turning axle, it always will be easier to back into a spot than to nose in . 100% of the time. Stomp and rant and hissyfit all you want, but that's an indisputable law of mechanics. And with Tesla's back-up cameras - good gravy, it can't get any easier!

There might be a cultural element also. In some countries where back-in parking is very common, drivers in the aisle have the courtesy and patience to wait until the maneuver is complete before continuing on down the aisle to pick out their own spot. Furthermore, it is extremely rare, and considered very rude to cut in and grab the parking space with a nose-in maneuver as the backer-in is positioning his car in preparation for his back-in move (something that I have seen happen here).

 

[TDR32]

Why not put it behind the rear license plate?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9b/af/5f/9baf5fd4ca6c874dad5ea69c15b39e17.jpg

 

[Electroman]

Stomp and rant and hissyfit all you want,

Really..? To me it seems the 1% are throwing a hissyfit that the other 99% people are stupid.

Although your "99.9%" is hyperbole

Would 98% make you happy? 95%? I challenge you to do this - go to google maps, and look at any large parking lots in the US. Airports, Disney land, office complex, shopping malls and come back tell me what % of cars are parked backed-in. Over 100 years of driving and possibly 200+ million drivers with a billions of parkings later, if the adoption rate of back-in parking is so minuscule, you can't claim that is the best way to do it. I have not seen a single driving instructor tell their students to park backing in. If it is that good, don't you think that would have been in the curriculum?

With the exception of parallel parking, in a regular parking lot with 90 degree parkings lines, if you go past a parking spot, you lose it. You cross it, you lose it. I can't read your mind if you plan to back in or simply keep driving forward looking for a better spot.

I have seen the ease with which Leaf and Volts, pull in, plug in and go effortlessly and the whole thing is so unobtrusive. I have also seen periodic door dings for cars parked next to a Tesla because this damn thing that protrudes and is on the way.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Regardless, as long as cars have as the front axle their turning axle, it always will be easier to back into a spot than to nose in . 100% of the time. Stomp and rant and hissyfit all you want, but that's an indisputable law of mechanics. And with Tesla's back-up cameras - good gravy, it can't get any easier!

I think your 100% of the time is hyperbole as well. If there's an empty parking lot (or even just several empty spots in a row), it's quite easy to go nose-first into any space. Backing in would take longer.

 

[Cyclone]

Not to pick a battle, but I do want to share some counterpoints.

go to google maps, and look at any large parking lots in the US. Airports, Disney land, office complex, shopping malls and come back tell me what % of cars are parked backed-in.

Oh you will most definitely see that most of these are nose-in.

I have not seen a single driving instructor tell their students to park backing in. If it is that good, don't you think that would have been in the curriculum?

When I was a teenager in South Florida, a driving instructor or even a driving class was not required. Just an exam and a driving test. You tool to prepare was the printed handbook and whatever anyone who rode along with you during your "learner's license" told/taught you.

With the exception of parallel parking, in a regular parking lot with 90 degree parkings lines, if you go past a parking spot, you lose it. You cross it, you lose it. I can't read your mind if you plan to back in or simply keep driving forward looking for a better spot.

Personally, I prefer to back into spaces. I don't always. In either case, I signal my intent and if backing in, I start turning at the parking space, so my rear end isn't really past the space.

 

[AudubonB]

I think your 100% of the time is hyperbole as well. If there's an empty parking lot (or even just several empty spots in a row), it's quite easy to go nose-first into any space. Backing in would take longer.

Your statement is true only if you permit the car in question to cross the stripes delineating the other (empty, in your example) parking slots, and since that's also a possibility, I'll concede that. "Rear-turning wheels trump front-turning wheels for maneuverability 100% of the time" is not, however, disputable.

 

[caddieo]

With the exception of parallel parking, in a regular parking lot with 90 degree parkings lines, if you go past a parking spot, you lose it. You cross it, you lose it. I can't read your mind if you plan to back in or simply keep driving forward looking for a better spot.

This^^ attitude (or its absence) is what I alluded to in post #24.

 

[mknox]

I've wondered about this myself. Personally, I think Tesla went with what is most familiar to drivers and most ICEs have it on the driver side (definitely a not-small number have it on passenger side though). But I've seen Volts around town parked on the street with the charger cord going across and sticking into the street. I always wonder why Chevy and Tesla didn't put the charger on the passenger side so it would face the curb when on the street.

My last few ICE cars have had the fuel door on the passenger side. I once heard this was by design so that if you ever had to pour gas into the car from a can at the side of the road, you wouldn't be standing on the side with traffic whizzing by. I have no idea if that's true, but I always remembered it and thought it made sense.

Ford and GM claimed that having the charge port on the front driver's side fender was so that the driver would see it getting in to the car and not forget to unplug.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Didn't the EV1 have the charging paddle in the front nose? And that's what prompted the design of power charging stations back then?

Maybe that's where the idea initially came from for these recent cars.

 

[David99]

Regardless, as long as cars have as the front axle their turning axle, it always will be easier to back into a spot than to nose in . 100% of the time. Stomp and rant and hissyfit all you want, but that's an indisputable law of mechanics. And with Tesla's back-up cameras - good gravy, it can't get any easier!

I think all car manufacturers will disagree with you. It's simple laws of physics that a car is much easier to drive when the turning wheels are in the front. Why do you think ALL cars have their turning wheels in the front and driving forward? Everything in a car is designed for the driver to go forward, so going backwards will always feel less comfortable. It is easier to back out from a parking spot into a wider, open space where you don't have to be aligned to anything, than backing into a narrow spot where you have to end up parallel to the lines and equally spaced with a few inches precision. It is unquestionably easier to go from a constrained space into an open space, than it is to go from a wide open space into a constrained one. So of course you want to use the more comfortable method, going forward, to go into a constrained space. That's how pretty much everyone feels and that's why pretty much everyone does it that way. And that's why many parking lots have the spots at a slight angle to support that.

But back to the original topic because I really think the back-in vs nose-in has nothing to do with the position of the charge port. I highly doubt Tesla thought, 'oh backing into a spot is easier (even though no one does it) and so let's put the charge port in the back'. Cables also have nothing to do with it. It would be about the same length if the charge port was on the side like the Volt and there are already high voltage cables going back and forth for the DC-DC converter and AC unit. I think it's just where most ICE cars have their tank cap so it feels more familiar there.

- - - Updated - - -

Didn't the EV1 have the charging paddle in the front nose? And that's what prompted the design of power charging stations back then? Maybe that's where the idea initially came from for these recent cars.

Which leads to the same question, why was it put in the nose? Because the vast majority of people park nose-in and that gives the minimum distance to the charger. I think it makes good sense and everyone except Tesla does it. (Rav4 doesn't count as Toyota hates EVs and made that car without any intent to success.}

 

[Electroman]

It is easier to back out from a parking spot into a wider, open space where you don't have to be aligned to anything, than backing into a narrow spot where you have to end up parallel to the lines and equally spaced with a few inches precision.

There you go.. David said it far more elegantly than my numerous weak attempts.

How many of us are comfortable going backwards on a curved lane as close to the center as possible? How do you compare that doing the same forwards?

Charge port on the back is a moment of brain-fart Model S designers had, and unfortunately the X will be the same

 

[mknox]

There you go.. David said it far more elegantly than my numerous weak attempts.

I have to disagree, but first let me say it might just be my personal preference. I find when steering into a tight space it's easier to have the wheels that steer on the outer side of the spot (i.e. to back in). I've seen cars try to pull in to spots forward only to end up on a very bad angle because while the front of the car steered into the spot, the back of the car, just dragging along, is still on the angle from the turn going in. If I back in, I can point the back wheels into the spot and then move the front of the car left or right to center it as I go in. Further, I can see directly into the spot as I back in, and when I pull out, it's easier to see any other cars or pedestrians that might be coming along the aisle from either side as I do.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I think all car manufacturers will disagree with you. It's simple laws of physics that a car is much easier to drive when the turning wheels are in the front. Why do you think ALL cars have their turning wheels in the front and driving forward? ... And that's why many parking lots have the spots at a slight angle to support that.

I think his point is that backing in allows you to fit in much tighter spaces than going forward. And pulling out into traffic facing forwards is safer than backing out.
There are certain angles only backing in will work (which is why parallel parking has to be done backing in and many spaces designed to pull forward are angled or leave a large margin between cars).

For a 90 degree parking space, I can back into a space with only a couple inch margin on both sides (mirrors almost touching the other two cars). I can't do the same same pulling forwards because of the combination of sight lines (don't have mirrors that allow me to see clearly both sides of the car) and maneuverability (I believe it is because backing in allows pivoting the car at more extreme angles due to steering being in the back).

Which leads to the same question, why was it put in the nose? Because the vast majority of people park nose-in and that gives the minimum distance to the charger. I think it makes good sense and everyone except Tesla does it. (Rav4 doesn't count as Toyota hates EVs and made that car without any intent to success.}

Not everyone. iMIEV (which happens to also be rear motored) has it in the rear also.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Which leads to the same question, why was it put in the nose? Because the vast majority of people park nose-in and that gives the minimum distance to the charger. I think it makes good sense and everyone except Tesla does it. (Rav4 doesn't count as Toyota hates EVs and made that car without any intent to success.}

Actually, if you look at all recent and upcoming plug-in cars (including PHEVs), you'll find the plug in almost every possible spot: front (Leaf, Audi A3 etron, etc.), front driver side (Volvo XC90 T8, Chevy Volt, Ford Fusion Energi, etc.), front passenger side (Opel Ampera in UK), rear driver side (Tesla, iMiev), rear passenger side (Mitsubishi Outlander, iMiev) and even above the rear bumper (Mercedes GLE 550e).

 

[brucet999]

Not everyone. iMIEV (which happens to also be rear motored) has it in the rear also.

But now you're talking about a car so small that it really doesn't matter.

 

[bonnie]

For what it's worth, I much prefer backing in to a spot - have full visibility when backing in, can see much more when pulling out. Side mirrors are enough, add in a backup camera and piece of cake. Maybe it's old training from when I operated heavy equipment (really! Death Valley, early 20s). At end of shift, all equip was parked on the equip pad. Requirement was to back it in as you came up at end of day, because it made for much more orderly start for the next shift when all that equipment wasn't trying to back up at the same time. ... And I still prefer to pull straight out of a spot for mostly safety reasons.

I never understood the angst over this until I was the passenger in a car and realized the driver really wasn't very competent at backing his car between two white lines (seriously!). Multiple tries & with a backup camera as assist. Made sense then - people have a higher anxiety level when they find something difficult to do. (If you want to feel angst, try being a new operator on shift & female to boot - and all the guys standing there watching as you back your equipment in. You learn to do it right the first time. )

 

[CHG-ON]

I will say that I have certainly honed my reversing skills since owning the MS. My garage is a little tricky because it is short and I want to save every single inch and I have to do a bit of a curve jig to pull in. But I am MUCH better backer upper now!

This is a little pet peev of mine. I have a Leaf and a Model S. I had the Leaf first so the charging station is set up to accommodate a front charge port. I have to back in the Model S if I want to use the station, which is difficult given the size of the Model S. But that's just me, I hate backing into supercharger stalls too; I always feel like I'm going to clip something.