Have you ever encountered such a situation?
When going to a gas station to refuel
I drove the car to the right side of the gas station.
Only then did I realize that the fuel tank opening is on the other side.
actually
It's understandable that car owners can't figure out where the fuel filler is.
Because not every car has the same fuel port.
Let's study with the editor today
What is the knowledge behind the placement of the oil filler port?
Early fuel filler location
In early cars, the fuel filler was mostly placed at the rear of the car. Now it seems that this position is not very scientific. If there is a rear-end collision, it can easily cause an explosion. There was no crash safety test at that time. When engineers arranged the fuel port, they followed the location of the fuel tank and made it as convenient as possible.
At that time, the location of the fuel port was relatively random. Some were placed in the hatch at the front of the car, some were placed in the taillights on the rear side of the car, and some were placed in the middle of neither left nor right. With the development of social economy, the collision safety of automobiles has received corresponding attention, and the fuel nozzles of automobiles were finally chosen to be placed on the left and right sides of the car body.
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Big difference between left and right driving
Generally speaking, the fuel tank port of most German cars is on the right, while the fuel tank port of many Japanese cars is on the left. Why is there such a difference?
Mainly because there are differences in whether cars drive on the left or on the right in different countries. In Europe, the driving position is on the left and cars drive on the right. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan drive on the left.
This brings up the following considerations regarding the location of the fuel filler:
Safety first
At the beginning of the birth of automobiles, there were no professional gas stations. Early car gas stations were always on the side of the road. In countries where cars drive on the right, gas stations are usually located on the forward side. It is obviously very dangerous for people to stand on the left side of a car on the side of a road where cars come and go. Therefore, car designers placed the gas filler on the right side to separate people from the traffic flow, thus avoiding accidents.
Of course, modern gas stations are independent spaces, and there is no danger caused by traffic for people who refuel.
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body weight
The engine and steering system will make the front of the car heavier as a whole. Therefore, most cars use rear-mounted fuel tanks, placing the fuel tanks under the rear seats. Coupled with the driver's weight, the fuel tank can balance the weight difference, so the fuel tank and the driver are often diagonally positioned.
Try to use the weight of the driver and the weight of the full fuel tank to obtain the maximum balance of the vehicle body, which is an important factor in vehicle body stability. The driving positions of European and Japanese cars are different, which results in the fuel tank of some cars being on the left rear and the fuel tank of some cars being on the right rear.
Don't play by the rules
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There is no hard and fast rule about the location of the fuel filler, it can be on the left or right. The manufacturer will determine the location of the fuel tank based on the model design and chassis distribution, so the location of the fuel tank and the fuel filler port are not fixed.
Coupled with the introduction of models from various countries and mutual exchanges and cooperation between car companies, the location of the fuel filler depends on the specific model design. When vehicles are traded in countries with different driving styles, considering that changing the position of the fuel filler is more complicated, the original design is generally maintained without modification.
Nowadays, with the popularity of harbor-style gas stations, refueling is equally convenient whether the fuel port is on the left or the right. In addition, part of the refueling port is on the left and part of the refueling port is on the right. In this way, both sides of the tanker can be refueled, which can actually improve the efficiency of refueling.
Although you can now refuel wherever your car is parked, it is best to remember the location of your vehicle's fuel nozzle to avoid stretching the refueling nozzle too long.
If you always get the location of the oil filler wrong, let me tell you a little trick! There will be an arrow on the car's dashboard to indicate to the driver the location of the fuel tank opening. I shouldn't remember it wrong now!
