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You can do a while lifetimes work, and yet sometimes it's a tiny action like this which can have the biggest benefit to mankind.

Just think how many billions of times someone has avoided pulling up to the wrong side of the pump because of this arrow - literal lifetimes of effort saved.

The person (committee?) who came up with USB A needs sanctions.

And Apple Needs more, for putting power buttons and key ports at that back.

What's wrong with pulling up to the wrong side of the pump? I do it all the time when the petrol station is busy, just pull the hose over to the other side and fuel the car anyway.
2020s UX "experts" would bury the entire instrument cluster under a hamburger menu if they could get away with it.

The fuel gauge would be moved three menus deep and thus impossible to find, then removed in subsequent model years when their telemetry data "proved" no one used it anymore.

BMW would put it behind a subscription
It drives usage up! Seriously, I wonder whether this “Make things to annoy people” trend is a normal situation, or an emerging behavior due to our era, and whether it will be solved one day. Example: In 2003 all UX was abominable, programs were ugly and black and white and text and boring, then came the iPhone with the idea to hire designers for apps, it was entirely new and absolutely unseen before. It was necessary during the take off phase of our industry, but are we simply witnessing the regression to normal, with UX being driven by corporate suits?
In the end, these engineers' job is make profit for the company. If the customer allows for all this crap, and still buys cars/fridges/tvs with such horrible UX, then it's the way forward.
Most of the instrument cluster is superfluous. My 81 Vanagon has only these and it's fine:

Speedometer (which starts at 10 mph and I've managed to adjust so it's about right at 40ish but reports 70 mph when you're doing 60), odometer (5.1 digits), fuel gauge (non-linear, but consistent, the top half is a lot bigger than the bottom half, no arrow because it hadn't been invented yet). And then some lights: brake warning lamp (but the bulb is burnt out and doesn't seem replacable), high beam indicator, alternator indicator, turn signal indicator (one led for both directions!), low oil pressure indicator, and EGR indicator which really just turns on 10,000 miles after you push the button on the box under the front of the car.

Don't even need a tach, cause they put one dot on the speedo where you should shift out of first, two dots where you should shift out of second, and three dots where you should shift out of third.

The gauge lights come on when the headlights are on, so that's a subtle indicator too, I guess.

Don't really need much more than that. There was an optional clock in my model year, but mine doesn't have one.

Which is great for new cars. I drove a 78 Buick Riviera. Friends couldn’t figure out how to fill it up. Because the gas cap was behind the license plate in the back!
Why didn't they just ask ChatGPT?

Oh wait.

TIL: There is an arrow signaling which side to refuel a car.

And while I am only slightly embarrassed that I did not know this, I am more excited about having learned this now. Yup, I just checked my car and it really is there, guys.

I was scrolling down the comments waiting for the first comment from someone experiencing this revelation.

I only learned maybe 5-6 years ago -- but then, I only bought my first car at age 55, because I have a kid and moved to a tiny country with infrequent public transport.

Anybody else get confused by whether the arrow represents where the car should be or the pump?
No
I agree. As much as people appreciate the factoid, it's not an example of good design.

I don't ever recall the arrow being paid attention to until listicles and other blog spam were born. It has all the elements of great clickbait.

The arrow indicates where the hole is.
I think this is the source of me misinterpreting the symbol a few times, so yes.
I do. It is not obvious in any case
Isnt it that nowadays usually on the side of the driving seat? Or does this apply only to EU vehicles?

Im not a regular car user, if at all Im renting - but the last 10 times(?) it was always just on the side of the driving seat

It points towards both the gas pump and also the side of the car that has the fuel filler, it’s impossible to confuse.
I had no idea till this moment that’s what the arrow was for…
On cars without the arrow they often follow the convention where the gas filler handle is depicted on the same side of the gas icon as the filler door is in the car.
I'm from the UK and had honestly not heard of the arrow.

I've checked my Toyota Yaris, and it's there!

Sorry to ruin the party but i never really noticed this until this post. Ive always checked the gas side for a rented with my own eyes.

Idea maybe is great but implementation is so so if it’s not immediately obvious for many people

Is the side to fill up evenly balanced between cars in average? I imagine there is value to make it close to 50/50 to simplify the logistics at the gas station. I was thinking car manufacturers perhaps had agreed so that some brands do it one way and some do it another
My Dad explained to me what this symbol meant when I got my first car. We went to get gas, and I had no idea that I pulled up on the wrong side of the pump. He indicated that the symbol told you which side of the car the gas tank was on.

It was a 1994 Ford Taurus.

I prefer the pump that is on the side of the petrol cap, but filling up from either side absolutely works for me in the uk, there isn't a "wrong side"
I was like 20 when I learned about this trick. Before then I'd only driven a few vehicles, and I just knew which side of the car the gas tank opening was on. A friend mentioned it when we were going to fill up a car a borrowed car and I asked which side it was on.

I've since met many adults who were unaware of this trick. It's like the real-world analog of an insufficiently discoverable UI functionality.

It's a convenient little invention but "the fact that there wasn't a simple way to know which side of a vehicle the gas tank was located on" is not quite true.

Usually, if the vehicle is of Japanese or British origin, the cap is on the left, otherwise it is on the right.

Source: I’ve driven dozens of different vehicle models all over Europe for decades. This rule always worked well enough for me.

I drove cars for 34 years and didn’t know about the arrow. I looked up some pictures for my cla gauge. Seems it’s there
One of my previous cars didn't have the signaling arrow and I missed it instantly. Such a subtle great idea.
Cars in India don't have this arrow. The inlet is always on the left (passeger) side. I wonder if there is some regulation governing this.

Edit: though I have never seen / noticed any cars with the fuel inlet on the driver's side some imported cars may have them.

I guess this is a first world problem.

What a letter. Clear, concise, just chef's kiss. I love that little indicator.
His letter is from 1986. Mercedes W123 and R107 clusters had triangles pointing in the filler direction in the 1970s already. (Granted, not quite as clear as his next iteration).
That's funny, I know someone that's fairly famous in the product development world that claimed to be the inventor of the gas pump arrow. Weird thing to lie about.
Why would you not just always put it on the driver's side, since they're the most likely to be doing the refueling?
Indian vehicles do not have this arrow.
Wow! I just used this a few days ago when I rented a U-Haul van. Such a great user interface element.
One of the many patron saints of engineers!

If he so believed in it, may his arrow be pointing up! :)

Who knew? I always thought this was a UX lore, and it was subsequently debunked.
Or make it so you can pump on both sides of the car, like we have.
I only knew it because someone talked about that. Very useful. RIP.
Nobody getting gas at Costco cares.
I use his arrow all the time. I'm also a Ford Truck Fan. RIP James.