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James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

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Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#51

Post by apparent »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #48
ryanjshaw wrote: post #15

Anybody else get confused by whether the arrow represents where the car should be or the pump?

Isnt it that nowadays usually on the side of the driving seat? Or does this apply only to EU vehicles? Im not a regular car user, if at all Im renting - but the last 10 times(?) it was always just on the side of the driving seat

I think it depends. Especially with PHEVs, which also have a charge port, whose location is determined by charging infrastructure, and which is not IME on the same side as the gas tank opening.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#52

Post by sitharus »

chongli wrote: post #31
arijun wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens when they sell the car in a country that drives on the other side of the road? They would have to move everything around.

They could design the fuel tank to be symmetrical about the axis parallel to the car’s axels. This would let it be flipped during installation at the factory to have the refueling port facing either side. Then the only difference would be the body panel and little door that covers the gas cap.

Many (mostly European and North American) manufacturers can’t even be bothered flipping the indicator and light controls around, there’s no way they’d flip the whole fuel tank.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#53

Post by apparent »

I was like 20 when I learned about this trick. Before then I'd only driven a few vehicles, and I just knew which side of the car the gas tank opening was on. A friend mentioned it when we were going to fill up a car a borrowed car and I asked which side it was on.

I've since met many adults who were unaware of this trick. It's like the real-world analog of an insufficiently discoverable UI functionality.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#54

Post by pants2 »

phibz wrote: post #6

On cars without the arrow they often follow the convention where the gas filler handle is depicted on the same side of the gas icon as the filler door is in the car.

I've heard that the gauge always points towards the side the cap is on when pointing to empty

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#55

Post by apparent »

fourtwentynine wrote: post #23
anigbrowl wrote: post #13

Why would you not just always put it on the driver's side, since they're the most likely to be doing the refueling?

My plug-in hybrid (Audi Q5) has the electric connector on the rear left (driver’s side) and the gasoline inlet on the rear right. I sure plug in way more than fill up. The fuel side indicator is quite helpful to me.

Funny, my PHEV had it on the opposite side. Did you find it difficult to charge at stations, which are often designed for front-left or rear-right charge ports?

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#56

Post by apparent »

acheron wrote: post #25
celeritascelery wrote: post #4

I had no idea till this moment that’s what the arrow was for…

I didn’t know it was possible to not know this.

Who taught you? I didn't know until my 20s and have met many adults who didn't know.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#57

Post by schmuckonwheels »

2020s UX "experts" would bury the entire instrument cluster under a hamburger menu if they could get away with it.

The fuel gauge would be moved three menus deep and thus impossible to find, then removed in subsequent model years when their telemetry data "proved" no one used it anymore.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#58

Post by schmuckonwheels »

lostlogin wrote: post #46
pa7ch wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whats wrong with usb-a? I feels more sturdy and less likely to have connection issues then usb-c in my experience.

> whats wrong with usb-a? Which way up it should go.

PS/2, which USB all but replaced, solved this by visually keying one side of the connector as flat.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#60

Post by wickedsight »

netsharc wrote: post #20
anigbrowl wrote: post #13

Why would you not just always put it on the driver's side, since they're the most likely to be doing the refueling?

And which side is the driver side? Surprise, it depends on the country. And a Japanese car manufacturer will move the driver controls to sell cars in USA/Continental Europe, but flipping everything else will cost more. I've driven 2 models of an Italian brand, my previous car had the gas tank on the passenger side, and my current one has it on the driver side. I do wonder why they changed it. There's also the issue o…

> I do wonder why they changed it.

Depending on model years, it could have something to do with Fiat merging with Chrysler in 2014. European brands usually have them on the passenger's side, while US brands have them on the driver's side. Maybe that new Fiat was designed in the US.

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