No idea on trends but with similar thinking I bought a 10m cable for my home charger. I hang it on the wall like a garden hose pipe when not in use but can charge inside the garage, outside the door and pretty much anywhere on the drive.

 

I think manufacturers tend to put the charging port closest to where the on board car charger is situated. In a front wheel drive car that will often be at the front as in the e-Niro. A rear wheel drive car, like the Tesla model S, tends to have the charge port at the rear of the car. I expect there are exceptions, but it makes sense for manufacturers to place the port close to the on board charger.

 

Except of course, those manufacturers using a shared ICE/EV design (Stellantis) will place the charge port where the fuel filler was, to re-use the same panels.

 

Hedge your bets and put half way down the garage

 

Get the longest cable that is available, and fit the charger in mid garage. You never know where the charger port will be on the next car. It could be front, rear, or on the far side of the car.

When I had my Zappi wallbox installed three years ago, I had the choice of a standard 5 metre cable, or for a few pounds more, an optional 8 metre one. I really wish I'd gone for the longer one. It just removes some of the limits on where you can park the car.

I don't have a garage, as a previous owner turned the garage into an extra bedroom. Useful but...

The problem was worse with the previous car, a Prius plug-in with the charging port near the rear (opposite the petrol filler).

The current e-Niro, with the port at the front is more flexible in my situation. However, I'd still prefer a longer cable.

 

Fit the EVSE at the door end of the garage and get a 10 metre cable

 

We have the same setup - Tethered Zappi 2 on the inside at front & the std 6.5m cable easily reaches the front of the car. No extensions needed


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If the charger is plugged into the car, does the car allow you to drive off with the charger cable still attached? If so, that would be a further good reason to have the wallbox installed halfway down the garage, because it would then be close to the driver’s door ; so very visible that the cable is still connected, and less risk of one of us driving off and ripping the charger cable out of the wallbox!

 

I think the car has features to ensure it can't be moved if the charger is plugged in.

I was going to have my tethered charger initially installed into my garage but then considered if this would work when friends and family visited and needed a charge or if both our vehicles went electric (which we are doing this year). The garage option had limitations especially if one of our vehicles was in the garage. I took the decision to have the charger installed on the front of the house and it has been absolutely fine. We have enough cable to plug-in regardless where the charge port is located or how the car is parked.

 

Charge ports should be on the front or rear.

I don't understand why you'd want a dirty great plug and thick cable sticking out of the side when parked in a narrow EV charging bay (and many are too narrow) so the occupants of the adjacent car have to squeeze past it, potentially bumping into and knocking it.
Same for a narrow garage.

 

I think you will be surprised.

Front charging ports will soon disappear. Just have a look at the new EVs released in the last year and/or based on a brand new EV platform.

One of the major problems with front charging ports is damage to expensive components and electronics in most crash scenarios.

 

I went through the same decision process. Wanted to be able to charge our ID3 whether it was in or out of the garage. Had it fitted close to the front of the garage door. I got a Zappi, untethered. Not the cheapest way to do it but you can then buy, and change if necessary, whatever length cable suits you. Bear in mind though that whatever EV you may get after this one, Sod’s law states that the EVSE will be in the wrong place!

 

A couple of thoughts:
1. You could install the charger near the garage doors - it's pretty easy to reverse an EV in with a rear-view camera, and obviously there's no concern over carbon monoxide poisoning.
2. I believe that if you are thinking of charging outside from a charger inside you should get an earth rod installed - @Jeremy Harris could advise.