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army1987 comments on The cup-holder paradox - Less Wrong
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Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.
Including good cupholders isn't a trivial problem, at all. From silicone cushioning to automatic cup-locking, to lighting, to thermoplastic insets, to accommodating a vast range of different sizes, from coffee cups to super-gulp 1.5 liter monstrosities, the list goes on. Compare to: What is the optimal can size, and form? Seems easy enough, yet far from a "solved" or trivial problem.
There are immense safety issues: If they impede the driver in his normal operation of the car, the manufacturer could be liable to lawsuits. Mustn't impede airbags, even using the largest fitting cups, or liable for lawsuits. Must be secure from spilling (not only an issue for 4x4 offroaders, but also for normal cars on the occasional bumpy road, or going up and down a ramp), or liable for lawsuits.
There are people specifically responsible for designing cupholders, up to whole companies, in fact. I remember an article stating that there were man-years dedicated just to the cupholder for some specific car model.
Real estate in a car is at a premium, especially the easily accessible portion. Accommodating someone who wants 3 beverages within easy reach (such as yourself) may annoy someone who just wants one, and doesn't like the way so many cupholders wreak havoc with other elements of the interior design (which you listed as an even bigger priority).
Outside of the US (say Europe), cupholders have a much lower priority (at least according to an article I'm just now reading). Eating and drinking cupious amounts in a car - while not unusual - isn't as common everywhere as it is in the US. (Obviously this point doesn't apply to car models that are manufactured exclusively for the US market.)
I'm not quick in jumping to conclusions. None of these objections hold any water.
Including good cupholders is trivial. Good cupholders hold cups. The cupholders in a Toyota Camry are great cupholders. They hold small or large cups firmly, and the cups never fall down. This is not a hard design problem. Yet many cars have featured no cupholders, a single cupholder, two tiny cupholders two inches deep that can't hold cups, cupholders too narrow to hold anything large than a 12-oz soda, or collapsible cupholders that collapse.
Impede a driver? Impede airbags? Be serious. There's a massive area of real estate around the armrest, and between the armrest and the stick shift, and in front of the stick shift. A Crown Victoria has a good 3 feet of completely unused space there, and no cup-holder, to the dismay of cops everywhere. It would take another 1 centimeter of width to put good cup-holders in most cars. Secure from spilling? Now you're arguing against yourself. I was pointing out that many cupholders are not secure from spilling, and you object that cupholders are not made secure from spilling because the automakers might get sued if they're not secure from spilling.
Real estate is at a premium, but nobody has ever complained (that I've seen) that the cupholders in their car were too big and ugly, except for a few Lotus drivers defending Lotus' old policy of not making cupholders because you shouldn't be drinking in a Lotus. It only takes an extra centimeter or two required to go from "totally nonfunctional" to "superior".
Outside of the US, people buy cars that are made to be sold outside the US. Inside the US, we buy cars made to be sold in the US.