The gas cap is...

Is there any way you can damage a Prius (I almost said "hurt") by driving it when it's out of gas? I seem to recall that you can. (damage it.)

 

Yes, driving just on the battery can cause damage to the battery. It has been said that doing so drains the battery to very low levels. So much so that it might inhibit the battery cells from recharging all the way back. If done too much, also could limit how well the batery cells hold a charge. Back to topic, I have a Saturn and it fills on the right side.

 

"Yea, why DON'T they put the gas cap in the middle.
Then you can glide up to either side of the gas pumps."

This is unsafe in rear-ender accidents.

 

i cant remember the last car i had ( that is IF i have ever had one that had the gas cap on the passenger side. i did have a few old 60's era beaters that had them in the back and that SUCKED.

besides, i can easily see too many people either running into the pumps or parking too far away from them if they were on the other side.

 

My old 96 VW Golf had the gas tank on the right side - VW said that they did it deliberately so that if you ran out of gas on the road and pulled over, you weren't in traffic when you refilled it with the gascan.

I thought that was smart ... and after almost 20 years of VW, it's a major effort to remember where the damn cap is every time I pull into a gas station! I didn't know it was a Euro-US thing.

 

I like it on the driver's side. I'm lazy. This way I don't have to walk around the car to get to the pump.

I once had a long argument (aboard a tall ship) with a brit who insisted that Americans drive on the wrong side of the street. His reasoning involved medieval knights and the French revolution. It wasn't really an argument. He was the chief of my watch, and a really cool guy, and I learned a lot about sailing from him. But he had this thing about driving directions.

 

Impossible to argue this logic. :lol: PLUS: I'd hate to offset the shorter fill-up time after trading in my SUV and by now having to navigate around to the other side of the car... and back again. Sheesh.

 

What does it matter when you only fill up once a month.

 

"american side" - that's ignorant. it's either left or right, americans don't own any side.

and are you the one who determines which side is the correct one and which one is the wrong side? As far as I am concerned either side is correct on any vehicle if that's where the manufacturer installed it.

 

After much consideration, while one cannot argue Tony's original logic, I believe it to be incomplete.

The correct side is more generally... The OUTside.

 

My 1965 VW Bug had the gas cap inside the front trunk. So, if you wanted to load or unload some baggage, and check the spare tire pressure all at the same time, you could! B)

 

Interestingly, I saw a tricked-out Prius on Sunday that had four exhaust pipes, two on each side (chrome of course). A pipe was run from the regular exhaust which connected to them.

 

interesting to see a Prius with 4 exhaust pipes when it doesnt even provide enough exhaust to rust one pipe

 

I'm surprised nobody has said this yet:

The gas cap is on the correct side because it's on the side with the gas filler pipe. If the cap was on the side opposite the filler pipe then gas would slosh out of the tank while you drove, and we'd lose that PZEV rating.

 

Gas Cap?

 

Ahhh, I see a new Prius. You will eventually have to put gas in it. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Sure, that's why you have that little arrow to the left of the pump symbol. Otherwise you'd forget which side it was on.

 

I also own 4 other cars and I can't remember which side they are on. I have come to look for the arrow. My 70 Pontiac GTO has it under the rear licence plate... I like it there.
-Paul R. Haller-

 

Compliments to Toyota to figuring things out and providing ergonomic logic: 1) Indicator on dash as to where the fuel port is (driver's side) and 2) release for fuel port (left of driver's seat).

Obtaining fuel these days can be bizarre as one is never quite sure where the fuel port is (left, rear or right). Toyota recognizes "form follows function." Thank you!