Take Our Poll - What's The Perfect Charge Port Location?

What's the ideal location for the charge port on plug-in electric cars? Is there a consensus?

Over the past six years I've interviewed and had discussions with electric vehicle product managers from just about every company selling EVs today, and a few that will be selling EVs in the near future. One of the more interesting topics I've found has been the subject of where they've decided to locate the charge port, and how they came to that decision.

***UPDATE: Since we originally published this article back in 2016, access to our poll results have vanished and, believe it or not, we get asked for these results almost on a weekly basis. Therefore, we ask that you again submit an answer to assist us and others in our quest for find out out if there's a consensus for the perfect charge port location. Here's the poll, but before selecting an answer, please consider reading this entire post for additional information.

For example, last month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, I sat down with Daimler's manager of electric motors and power electronics, Franz Neitfeld to discuss Daimler's current plug in Hybrid offerings, and where they are going in the future. When I brought up the topic of the unusual charge port location that Mercedes is using on all of their PHEVs, he told me they gave this much consideration, and after doing so they decided the right corner of the rear bumper was the ideal location.

He went on to explain that the majority of the cars they sell are to left hand drive markets, and when a driver of a left hand drive car pulls into the garage they usually leave more room to the right side of the vehicle, so as to make sure they don't hit anything on that side as they pull in. So they concluded the placement of the EVSE would be best on the right side wall of the garage, where the customer can easily plug in. Also, by placing the charge port there, the customer would be able to walk back around the car and into the house without the cable being in their way. I think the assumption that most Mercedes owners have a private garage for their cars, since it is a premium brand, played a role in this decision making.

That's the first time I've heard anyone give me that reasoning for their charge port location. Clearly, there really is no consensus among the OEMs as to where the best place is, with just about everyone finding their own unique place, with their own unique reasoning for why they placed it there. This can't be the best practice. There has to be a location which suits the majority of the people who drive EVs better than the other locations, right?

A few years ago Ford announced that they had researched this topic and after an extensive study, they decided the front, left side of the vehicle was indeed the ideal place. At the time, Susan Curry, Ford Electrified Vehicle Technology Integration supervisor said: After benchmarking multiple competitive vehicles, we found there wasn't much consistency in charge port location. We wanted to give customers a location that made the most sense for them and would seem as simple as filling up at the gas station."

And Mary Smith, Ford Electrified Vehicle Technology Integration supervisor said, "The left front fender location keeps the charge port in sight, before the customer enters or exits the car, for an easy reminder to unplug or recharge. It creates an intuitive placement for owners that also has aesthetic appeal. "It's worth noting that GM also locates the charge ports of all their plug in offerings on the front left side of the vehicle."

For the i3, BMW's first all electric vehicle, the charge port was positioned on the rear, right side of the vehicle. I asked BMW product managers about this at the vehicle launch ceremony in 2013 and was told that there were two main reasons for the positioning.

First, this location made the most sense because the car will be sold all over the world, and in many European countries curbside charging would require the port to be on the left side of the vehicle. It would be too expensive to have different carbon fiber passenger cells made to accommodate different charge port locations so they needed one location for all i3s made. Secondly, having the charge port in the rear of the vehicle, close to the power electronics, meant weight and cost savings.

During the development process, i3 engineers would fight to cut every gram of weight they could, and having a three foot long high voltage cable instead of one that was eight feet long made the decision easy. However the charge ports of BMW plug in hybrids are located on the front left side of the vehicle, as they are on Ford and GM vehicles.

Other OEMs like Nissan and Audi decided to go front and center, using the center of the front bumper and grill for their charge ports. Initially I was concerned that even a minor bump on the front end would result in a disabled charge port, requiring the vehicle to be immediately serviced. However that hasn't been much of a problem for the Nissan LEAF, the world's best selling pure electric car, so I guess my concerns were unwarranted.

Then there's Tesla. All of Tesla's cars have their charge ports on the rear left side of the vehicle. The Roadster's charge port is right behind the driver's side door, but the Model S & Model X have their charge ports integrated into the rear tail light lens, where it wraps around the side of the car. It's undoubtedly an elegant design, but it is the best place for it? Some Tesla owners say it isn't, and it can make plugging in difficult on many public chargers, especially if they are in a parking lot that prohibits backing into the parking space.

I realize the answer might be a little different for European drivers as compared to electric vehicle owners in the US, because unlike in Europe, the US has very few curbside public charging stations. Here in the US just about all public EVSEs are located in parking lots, not curbside on public streets. There's also the fact that most countries which were once British colonies still have right hand drive so that would impact one's preference.

Still, I'd like to pose this question to everyone who has experience driving and charging an EV, and I'd appreciate it if you took a moment to answer the poll. Once the polling is complete I plan to send the results to my industry contacts.

Open this photo in gallery:

Charging the Volvo XC40 Recharge electric vehicle in Vancouver.Jason Tchir/The Globe and Mail

Given the fact that virtually all of the world drives on the right-hand side of the road – with notable exceptions, including the U.K., India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand – why do EV manufacturers place the charging port on the driver’s side of the car instead of the passenger side? Time and time again, I see long charging cords dangling over the hoods of electric cars to reach the charging port on the driver’s side. Surely there can be no mechanical reason for this. It makes it difficult to access side-of-road charging stations. – Iain, Vancouver

When it comes to placing charging ports on EVs, it’s up to car makers to choose sides.

Transport Canada said there are no rules against putting ports on the driver side, passenger side, front or rear of a battery-electric vehicle (BEV), as long as the car meets all other safety standards.

In Canada and the United States, most car makers, including Ford, Volvo and GM place BEV charging ports on the driver side. In North America, where we drive on the right, that’s the left side when you’re inside the car.

Why charge on the driver side? Most companies didn’t have an immediate answer.

“On our upcoming bZ4X fully-electric BEV, the charging port is on the left [driver side] front fender,” said Romaric Lartilleux, Toyota Canada spokesman. “There is no specific reason for that, but the fact that Japan is a [right-hand drive] market is probably a pretty good [one].”

According to GM, customers prefer the charging port on the driver side because it reminds them to unplug it when they get in the vehicle. But there are car makers, including Nissan, BMW and Audi and Volkswagen, who put their charging ports on the passenger (right) side.

That side is traditionally where most gas-powered German cars put their gas caps – which also varies by company.

Audi’s e-tron SUV and e-tron GT have charging ports on both sides, although just the driver-side port is capable of Level 3 fast charging.

Fast charging can get most EVs’ batteries from nearly empty to 80-per-cent full in 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the speed of the charger.

But Audi’s Q4 e-tron will have just one charging point on the passenger (right) side.

Switching sides?

Several companies couldn’t immediately say whether they switch charging port sides depending on whether it’s a left-hand drive market, like North America, or a right-drive market like the United Kingdom.

BMW said photos of its U.K. EVs show the port on the same side as Europe and North America.

Volkswagen said all its EVs will have a right-side port everywhere in the world. That “places the port on the curb side in most markets,” Volkswagen said.

But Nissan generally switches sides to fit the country where it’s selling.

While the Nissan Leaf’s charging port is in front, the upcoming Nissan Ariya will have it on the passenger side in every market, the company said. That means it will be on the left in the U.K. and Japan and on the right here.

“This way, the plug is always on the sidewalk side of the car when parked,” said Didier Marsaud, Nissan Canada spokesman, in an e-mail.

Other EVs, including the Hyundai Kona electric, also charge from the front.

What about plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)? On some, including Toyota’s RAV4 Prime PHEV, the plug is on the opposite side of the car’s gas cap. For the RAV4, the port is on the (right) passenger side.

On others, including the Volvo XC60 Recharge PHEV, it’s on the same side as the gas cap – the driver side in Volvo’s case – but at the front.

Wrong side of the law?

Why does it matter? Well, if you’re parallel parking at a curbside charger on a two-way street, the passenger side is the closest to the charger.

If you’ve got a driver-side charging port, you might be able to snake the charging cord over or around your car to get to it. But if the cord doesn’t reach, then you’ll have to park facing traffic.

I had to do this recently with a Volvo XC40 recharge at a Level 3 charging station in Vancouver because the cord wouldn’t reach around to the driver side. The only other car parked the wrong way was a Ford Mustang Mach-E at the next charger.

Parking on the wrong side of the street is illegal in much of Canada under local bylaws, provincial rules or both.

But, at least for now, curbside chargers requiring you to parallel park aren’t “really a thing in most of Canada,” BMW said.

Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.