What Is the Weird Gap Between Car Cup Holders For?
That little gap between two cup holders doesn’t have one universal purpose—it varies by vehicle design.
One common purpose is to accommodate the handle of a mug or travel cup. The handle can sit in the gap while the body of the mug remains securely in the cup holder. This design has recently gone viral online.
In some vehicles, the space also helps with:
- Adjusting or supporting different cup sizes
- Providing clearance for a removable cup-holder insert
- Giving the molded plastic structure necessary support
- Holding lightweight grocery-bag handles in certain designs.
☕ The easy test
Take a mug with a handle and place the mug in the cup holder. If the handle naturally fits into that center gap and the mug sits level, that’s likely what that particular design is intended to accommodate.
So the viral claim that every car has that gap specifically as a grocery-bag holder isn’t correct. The purpose depends on the make and model.
If you tell me your car’s make, model and year, I can check what that gap is designed for in your specific vehicle.
