Power plug access door design

[Lithim]

My silver 2012, ES has the QC option.(DC)
I've noticed a design difference between the 120/240 and the QC access doors.
Why does the DC door blend with the contour of the car and the 120/240 have a ridge down the middle from front to back?
Just curious!

 

[peterdambier]

The Yazaki side

is a new design especially made for the Yazaki J1772 socket. I guess a CEE 230V/16A or CEE400V/16 might fit as well. Looks like the same size and position of plug and srews.

The CHAdeMO side

looks like left over from the ICE car. It has even got the hanger were you can hang the cap of the gas tank.

 

[misterbleepy]

The CHAdeMO side...
...looks like left over from the ICE car. It has even got the hanger were you can hang the cap of the gas tank.

I agree with Peter, it is conventional for the fuel filler to be on the passenger side of the car, and Japan is a Right-Hand Drive country (like the UK), so the fuel filler of the ICE car would most likely have been on the left side.

As to why the caps are different, maybe it's just so they are easier to recognise which is which?

 

[Lithim]

Follow up from Lithim:

I was referring to the outside door not the power plug cap.
If you look at the car with the doors closed, the 120/240 door does not blend with the contour of the car the way the DC quick charge door does.
Just wondering from a design point of view.

 

[MLucas]

Seems like the questions has been answered by peterdambier. The left side QC port was the original car's gas filler, thus it was designed as part of the car. The right side 120/220 port is simply an add on and to save cost they probably took a cover from the parts bin and merely adapted it to the i-MiEV. The engineers employed many cost saving techniques and I have a feeling this is one of them. Like on left hand drive cars the hood release is still on the right hand side. Another one, the dashboards are all the same size, whether its an international model or a North American model. To save cost, the engineers created a filler for the NA cars, you can see it around the edges of the dash, it's about two inches on each side (equally the 4" widening of the car). The drive lever labels are on the right side instead of the left for left hand drive cars.

 

[PV1]

Even with all the cost savings done on this car, it is still very solid and the fit and finish is impressive, better than some more expensive cars that I've seen.

I'm not sure why the J1772 door has the ridge on it, either. Maybe it's for extra rigidity?

**EDIT** I was looking at the door last night. The latch on the J1772 inlet reaches the inner bracket the door is welded to. I think they added the ridge to ensure clearance of the latch on the inlet, allowing for differences in manufacturing. I guess that was easier and cheaper than making the well deeper.