IEVS, take two: Take Our Poll – What’s The Perfect Charge Port Location?

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GRA

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https://insideevs.com/whats-the-perfect-location-for-a-charge-port-poll/

In addition to the various manufacturer's rationales for charge port location mentioned in the article, I've also seen another: in Japan people are apparently more likely to back into garages, while in the U.S. most people drive into their garages nose first. The only universally ideal solution I can think of would be a wireless charging pad positioned dead-center on the car's underside, so it wouldn't matter whether you parked nose in, back in, or on the left or right side of the street.
 
I voted front of car. I HATE the charging port location on my eGolf (right rear quarter panel) though I know why VW (and others) put it there: so they can use the same panel as the ICEV versions. The cord on my L2 EVSE is just barely long enough to reach the port if I drive nose-in and it means dragging the cord across the top of the car which I don't like. So on days where I have to charge on L2 I have to back in.

Recently I've been using the eGolf's OEM L1 EVSE for daily maintenance charges, as I can route that so that it easily reaches the car's charging port when parked nose-in, and it's easier than backing in to use the L2. If I charge every day I only need a few kWH anyway.

I also prefer the charging port to be at the front when using charging stations in public areas, because people tend to get impatient when you're trying to back into a parking space.
 
I prefer it in the back of the car, as I back into parking spaces.

(in the crash-avoidance/skid-school where I took the class with my kids, I learned to back into parking spaces because it's safer. When you arrive, you can more easily see that there is no pedestrian around, so it is safer to back up then. When you leave you do not need to back up at all.)
 
I'm also a back-in'er person but my wife can't stand backing in, but has no problem backing out :?
I guess my preference might be in the front like the Leaf just because one can always drive into a parking spot, not as fond as one side or the other of the vehicle as inevitably the EVSE will be on the wrong side :(
 
I have different cars, too, one with front and one with rear side. My personal preference: side ports, and towards the rear if possible (e.g., like Tesla has it).

But I can back up that preference: Side ports make it easier to see who needs to be plugged in.

Here at work we have over 75 plug-ins and dozens of EVSEs (http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=24456). Since each EVSE is shared by 2 parking spaces, if you were the second car to arrive, you need to go out around lunch to plug in your car. Our approach here is to open your charge port when you park, so that you can get plugged in by anyone who sees the first car is done charging. As I (or others) walk in the garage down the row of 30 parking spaces (with 15 EVSEs), it's nice to swap other cars where the first car is done.

With most of the cars out there, it's really easy to see who is waiting for a charge, since the charge port is on the side and you can tell if the port is still open (since you close the one for a finished car -- unless it's a Tesla with the J1772 adapter plugged in). The only annoying cars we have on campus are the LEAF and Soul EV, since both have front-center charging ports. You have to walk in front of the car to see if the port is still open.

This is just a tiny, "first world" annoyance, but it's something that happens every single day at (my) work.
 
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