I'm sensitized to charge port locations and charge port infrastructure since I looked at buying a Ford F150 lightning as a tow vehicle for my Airstream. Ford markets the lightning for towing, but the problem that quickly became obvious was that all existing EV charging stations assume a vehicle backing into or nosing into a small parking spot. When you are towing, you need a pull-through refueling model, like a gas station. Since no chargers are built with the pull-through model, to charge your EV while towing, you would need to disconnect your trailer, drop it somewhere while you charge, and then hook it up again. Every 100 to 150 miles. So it's a total non-starter - what the heck Ford marketing...

A less serious but still annoying issue comes up for the EQS. I came across several articles today talking about how there is no standard for EV charging port location. Mercedes has chosen the passenger side in the rear, just like their ICE vehicles. Tesla chose the driver's side rear. Other EV makers have chosen locations randomly, almost 360 degrees around the vehicle.

This creates a geometry problem described in the picture and articles below - if the charging cord isn't long enough, folks have to do all kinds of weird parking jobs to get the vehicle's charging port close enough to the charger to plug it in. I'm also not a big fan of draping a heavy, gritty charging cable across my very expensive Mercedes paint as some folks are doing when the cord is longer.

Another fix would be to make EV chargers two-sided, like gas pumps are. I've not seen anyone doing this yet, but it would seem to make sense. I'm not a fan of long hoses with gas/diesel, and same goes for electrical charging cords that you have to drape across your vehicle, for the paint damage issues mentioned above.

I'm somewhat surprised the OEMs didn't figure this out early and standardize and given the substantial amount of time it takes to charge, it's critical that public charging infrastructure supports all vehicles - so you don't have our EQS blocking two spots designed for a Tesla or Vice Versa for a long period of time.





https://insideevs.com/news/545500/no...superchargers/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/driv...n-the-drivers/

 

I find the Tesla and Mercedes options are both okay. The ones with the charging port at the front of the car, forces people to park in forwards. Since it is safer to back into parking spaces, placing the port on the front of the car is dumb.

Pickups are obviously a special case. Rivian seems to have got that right.

 

Interesting, thanks for sharing your observation. I am hoping that Mercedes' own park assist will use GPS data to automatically detect which side the charger is and then reverse in or front in where it does not require the cable overlapping the vehicle, not a good solution but better than nothing. As for the decision for MB to put the charging slot on where the gas cap used to be is probably because it is more convenient and due to muscle memory, MB ICE owners or ICE owners of other German brands won't have trouble figuring out which side is the charging slot. Otherwise, it might certainly be random, PHEV MBs have the charging slot on the opposite side of the gasoline slot because it probably won't look good or may be confusing if they put both on the same side but then there are exceptions like the GLC 350e in which it has a slot near the bumper. The e-performance vehicles also have it near the bumper.

 

Doesn't the Taycan have a charge port on both front fenders?

 

Taycan and Etron GT have 2 frontal AC ports but only 1 CCS port. Their position is however awkward being far toward to the driving cabin.
I’ve been driving EVs for 11 yrs (Nissan Leaf, Mercedes B250e and Tesla Model S). The golden rule is charge port should be as far front or rear as possible so you can get to the charger from the front or back.

 

This seems to be a basic thing that's kinda mindboggling that it hadn't been thought through more. Along with charging stations not having roofs over them, so when it rains cats and dogs you get soaked while plugging in the car and waiting for it to start charging. Worse if the charger fails and you have to repark and try again. Also the cables are kinda heavy and I've heard they are tough to handle for women, especially if you wanna guide the cable with one hand and plug in with the other, not to mention trying to hold an umbrella at the same time if it rains. It takes some muscle. The ergonomics of charging is largely a massive fail at the moment. In Europe they've finally recognized the problem and they have started building charging parks that look like gas stations. The chargers are arranged like gas pumps and there's a roof over the whole thing. Here's an example by EnBW.

 

Wow I never really thought about this. I was really excited when Tesla announced that they were testing having other vehicles use their super charges in Sweden, but this may not work for the EQS because of the location of the charging port. I go to a super charger maybe about once a month to get a free charge (charge my Tesla mostly at home). You have to really pay attention to how you park because the cables attached to the super chargers are really stiff and short. If you are not aligned correctly in the parking spot the cable will not reach. So I'm almost certain it will not be long enough to reach the opposite side of the vehicle. The lane markings on the parking spaces are placed to line up the vehicle so that the charger is slightly to the left of the car when you are backing in (left from the perspective of the driver facing forward as you are backing in).

On a side note, I was charging one night when a Jaguar I-Pace pulled up trying to charge. It was a new vehicle (temp plates still on) and I guess the sales person forgot to tell them that they couldn't use a Tesla super charger. I'm not sure what would have happened if they had actually got to the point of trying to plug in, but it was entertaining watching them trying to position the car to line up with the charger. They first tried backing in like the Teslas that were there. When they discovered that the cable would not reach, they then tried pulling forward into the spot, the cable still did not reached. The last try was to pull forward and straddle the marked lanes to get the vehicle port closer to the charger. The charger cable was still not long enough to reach so they quickly pull away, I guess a little angry.

 

As mentioned, the Taycan CCS port is on the front passenger side. It poses no problem for high speed charging. Yes, I pull forward into the space but the 350kW charger at EA is forward so there is no problem. Also, the charger in my garage is on the front wall in the center so could serve an EV on either side. I don't ever back into my garage, if I get an EQS (or E) I hope that the charge cord would reach to the rear of the car, if not I would back that car in. Yes, the high speed charger cables are heavy. I always find plugging in a two handed operation. The 150kW cables are easier to handle. The max charging speed on the Taycan is 270kW, it kills me to see Chevy Bolts using the 350 kW chargers, I give them a lesson at every opportunity. Yes, we need better design to the charging stations and it is a challenge for vehicles pulling trailers. I don't understand how backing into a space is "safer" especially when rear visibility is limited.