
Cupholders Are Everywhere - Petiver
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/cupholders-are-everywhere/558545/?single_page=true
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roflchoppa
In my 240z I have to shove my coffee into the ashtray, which sucks because
then it cant be used for extra-curricular activities. In the e30m3 have to
shove my coffee between the seat and the door, its snug like a bug.

68' Classic MiniCooper has an ashtray for every passenger, and a communal one
in the front.

No cup-holders, less airbags.

~~~
rconti
My E36 M3 has a ring in the cupholder meant to accommodate smaller cups, which
is promptly thrown away the first time it sticks to a cup that you then throw
in the trash at a roadside rest stop...

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roflchoppa
It’s made for euro cups, aka espresso shots ha.

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stronglikedan
I recently bought a new car and cupholders were a major factor in my decision.
I drink _a lot_ of water and hence require a large cup (Yeti 30oz Rambler). I
took my cup with me to every dealership, and was surprised that it only fit in
a couple of cars that I looked at (one of which I ended up with).

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gyrgtyn
did you lose the lid?

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stronglikedan
Funny enough, I didn't, but my brother in law did, so I gave him mine since I
never used it. I guess I _did_ lose it by proxy. I'm a chugger and lids tend
to restrict the flow too much for me.

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teeray
My 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee has my favorite arrangement now. One standard
cupholder for each passenger and a water bottle holder in the door.

This means that even when you can't pull over to get a drink, you can always
reach down and get water. However, the regular cupholder remains free if you
get a coffee or whatever.

~~~
rconti
My VW golf has a large enough holder in the door for a 1L nalgene bottle. It's
AMAZING. I rarely drink from it while driving but I often take a large bottle
of water with me wherever I'm going, just so I have it to drink from at my
destination, or whatever. For example, each of the past 2 weekends I've driven
an hour each way to a trail race and have lots of water when I arrive. I
suppose I could just let it bang around in the trunk the entire journey, but
having it secured seems far more civilized.

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dano
The following is from Tom's obituary in WAPO [1]

Tom Magliozzi (cartalk [2]) once held up the Chevrolet minivan for ridicule,
questioning why it needed 13 cup-holders.

“That’s one area where General Motors has excelled,” he said. “When people
talk about the Japanese being ahead of us, they don’t hold a patch to us in
cup holders.”

1\. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tom-
magliozzi-h...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tom-magliozzi-
half-of-the-irreverent-car-talk-duo-that-made-auto-repair-fun-
dies/2014/11/03/31c0c684-6392-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html)

2\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Talk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Talk)

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Luc
I don't think I've ever felt the need to drink in a car. Must be a cultural
thing, or I guess Americans are making loooong car trips.

~~~
Jtsummers
Yeah, long car trips. Just visiting my parents is 2 hours by car. My sister
would be 2-3 days (I fly for that). I drove to visit my nearest aunt and uncle
and that was a very, very long one day drive. About 12-13 hours.

~~~
icebraining
It must be cultural, because two hours doesn't seem that long to me, yet
nobody I know would drink in the car on such a trip, we'd stop at a gas
station / roadside diner.

~~~
rconti
Probably. I can't see why I wouldn't at least want the _option_ of being able
to carry a beverage. But I primarily drive two-seaters and don't see the need
for more than one or two, let alone 19!

It just seems like a waste of time to sit for 30 minutes in the middle of a
journey and wait for your coffee to cool. It's far more leisurely to sip it as
you drive instead of feeling hurried to finish it.

~~~
icebraining
Yeah, another of our cultural differences is that we mainly drink espressos,
not large cups. So it's a 5-10 minute break, not 30.

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gpresot
Interesting how this seems to be a non-issue in Europe (I guess shorter
commuting distances and public transport). Which also might explain why
european cars have (or used to have) flimsy or badly designed cup-holders. I
imagine the cup holders where designed in a rush to suit the North American
market after the rest of the interiors had been finalized.

~~~
benplumley
There's also far less of a takeaway drinks culture in Europe, for both fizzy
drinks and coffee. The only drink I ever have in a car is a bottle of water
which fits fine in the door pocket.

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wazoox
AFAIK the cupholders are a purely North-American thing. I never used one,
ever, in any car, and I know of only one person that ever uses them to hold
beverages (though never cups, always water bottles). Really an unfathomable
mystery to me.

~~~
deepspace
More an American thing, I think. Here in Canada (specifically British
Columbia), eating or drinking while driving is considered distracted driving,
and police will issue a fine of $368 and 6 driver penalty points.

~~~
jbob2000
I have never gotten or even heard about someone getting a ticket for
eating/drinking while driving. It would be national news if someone got one of
these tickets. Going through the drive-through for a cup of coffee and
drinking it on your way to work is part of the norm here, dare I say that it’s
part of our national identity.

Sure, it’s technically a crime. But it’s never enforced unless you’re being
extremely negligent, just like jay walking. I think officers use the rule of
“did you cause other drivers to take action to avoid you?” when enforcing
this.

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chiph
> On the luxury end of the spectrum, cars like the Rolls Royce came equipped
> with elaborate, monogrammed picnic baskets complete with silver utensils.

They may not have it listed as an option, but I would think that Rolls Royce
could produce one for your new Phantom.

Edit: I have placed a call to the local dealer and hopefully they'll let me
know if you can still get one.

Reply from Rolls Royce - they offer the champagne flutes and refrigerator as a
standard option for the rear seat, but a picnic basket would be available
through their bespoke program, where they'd create one just for you. (I didn't
bother asking the price!)

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bgribble
Maybe they are getting better, but for a long time German cars' cupholders
were breathtakingly bad. I remember a Mercedes SUV a family member drove that
you pushed a button and up popped this complicated structure with arms that
unfolded to embrace your cup (if it was in a limited range of sizes). I
guessed at least 20 parts, half of them moving, instead of the American car's
zero-part hole in the console.

~~~
EvanAnderson
I broached the subject of cupholders in cars w/ a German expat I worked with
around 20-ish years ago. She told me that German attitudes toward driving were
such that drinking any beverages while driving is an unnecessary distraction.
She said that she was surprised and appalled at how many distractions US cars
have.

My sample size of German drivers is 1. I'd be interested to hear if others
have similar feelings.

~~~
wink
Make it 2. I try to avoid drinking while driving (pun not intended) but I'm
not 100% on that. Sure, if you're on the road for a few hours you might take a
sip now and then, a cupholder is nice - but I try to avoid it. It's better
with a second person who can hold your drink. :P

I don't think I've had coffee while driving more than twice in my life (as a
driver, 16+ years).

Both cars I have access to at the moment do have 2 cupholders in the front
bottom middle, but in one car they really suck (not high enough, very small,
not flexible, anything bigger than a small can will nearly touch your stick
shift) so they're never used. In the other car you can put a coffee cup there,
but using both of them at the same time is also not ideal.

Oh, and the bottle holders in the doors also kinda suck, you can kinda wedge a
small can (250ml, like Red Bull) in, or a 500ml water bottle, but good luck
taking it out to drink. The unscrewing part is why I also try to avoid this.

That said, I never even looked if and how many and what quality of cup holders
a car I was about to use/buy has.

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seiferteric
A telecom equipment company I used to work for had patented a cupholder in a
outdoor enclosure. This was sort of an internal joke, but I think they did
actually make them.

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reaperducer
I wish they were everywhere. I spend too much time driving long-distance and
wish my car had more cupholders.

Seating for five. Three cupholders. One of them in the back seat. Lame.

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swlkr
The 4runner is great because the front cupholders are separated vertically and
horizontally, you can't mistake the passenger side from the driver's side.

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mehly
and nalgene bottles don't fit in any of them!

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GrumpyNl
Dont know the bottle, but thats a bad designed bottle then.

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Analemma_
That seems unfairly knee-jerk. Nalgene bottles are very good at doing the
thing they were designed to do- being water bottles for hiking (it's fairly
noteworthy when I see a hiker drinking out of something _other_ than a Nalgene
bottle). To fit in cupholders, they'd have to have a much smaller diameter,
and thus either hold much less water, or have a "layered" shape (like the
large drink sizes from fast food restaurants). Either of these would be a
major compromise.

~~~
tgb
Moreover Nalgene water bottles became popular for consumer use (previously
they were a laboratory equipment company) in the 70s according to Wikipedia. I
believe that well predates the rise of cupholders in cars.

~~~
benjohnson
Yep - you can still buy the original HDPE lab version by the case: Part number
2104-0032

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SteveJS
On a similar note: I want summer clothing that does a better job holding an
iphone.

~~~
madengr
I can CCW a full size 1911 in summer clothing, so an iPhone should be simple.

~~~
presidentender
The nature of iPhone access is very different: you want to make sure you feel
the phone go off, and it's culturally acceptable, so concealment isn't a
concern, which means that 'summer clothing' can include fitted shirts and
needn't include a belt.

Making concessions in your attire for the sake of your hobby is a necessary
evil. That isn't the case for phones.

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rconti
The linked Saucemoto Kickstarter project is just... wow.

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/19375970/dipclip-a-
cup-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/19375970/dipclip-a-cup-holder-
for-your-sauce?ref=backerkit)

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madengr
A beer goes between the legs, not in a cup holder.

