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Ever wonder why some gas tanks are placed on the right side of vehicles and why others are placed on the left side? It’s a question that has been asked often, but there is no uniform reason.
You would think it would be easier for the gas tank to be in the middle of the back side of all vehicles, so it wouldn’t matter which side of the fuel pump the gas tank is located. For safety reasons it is illegal to have the gas tank there because an impact on the rear side of the vehicle could lead to gas splashing and the car exploding.
While there are requirements that the gas tank be on the widest part of the car, away from the fuel lines, the exhaust, electrical wiring and the like, no regulations specify where the gas tank should be located. One reason for placing the fuel tank on one side of the vehicle versus another and most logical has to do with engineering, the vehicle’s design and underbody packaging of its components.
There is also speculation that most automakers place gas tanks on the driver’s side for convenience. In the U.S. and Germany, where motorists drive on the right side of the road and sit on the left side of the vehicle, it is easier for drivers to place the vehicle’s left side close to the fuel pump. In other countries where motorists drive on the left side of the road and sit on the right side of the car, the fuel tanks are on the right side. There are, of course, exceptions. Nissan and other auto manufacturers have vehicles with gas tanks on either side, depending on the model.
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