Before the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, storage space underneath the hood of a vehicle, known as the front trunk or “frunk,” was a fairly obscure feature. Because most cars have their engine up front, the average buyer has probably never had that space available to store things. The only way to have a frunk would be to have a car with the engine in the middle or the back of the car.
Now, though, the frunk has become far more mainstream. Because electric vehicles don’t need that space to keep their floor-mounted batteries or compact electric motors, many manufacturers have opted to use it to add storage space. Peek under the hood of most electric cars, and it’s likely you’ll at least find a cubby to store your charging cable.
As it turns out, people might not be using their frunks as much as automakers thought, at least going by Ford’s decision to eliminate the frunk from the Mustang Mach-E’s list of standard equipment.
Now You’ll Have To Pay For That Extra Storage
Ford Authority was the first to catch the news that the Mach-E will not have a frunk as standard. If you want a frunk in your four-door, all-electric Mustang, it’s now a standalone option that’ll cost you an extra $495. And it’s not like you get that level of a discount if you don’t option the frunk; the 2026 model is only $150 cheaper than the 2025 model, which got the frunk as standard. So if you match the two model years spec-for-spec, you’re paying $345 more.
The reason, according to Mustang Mach-E brand manager Teddy Ankeny, is that owners simply weren’t using the frunk as much as the company expected. Here he is in a video interview with the Electric Duo YouTube channel revealing why Ford made the swtich:
Here’s the relevant quote, in case you don’t want to (or can’t) watch the video embedded above:
“[W]e were learning that customers were using their frunk, but perhaps not as much as we had originally intended. And so, in order to kind of preserve that customer choice, we have made it optional for the 2026 model year.”
Personally, I’d think “Customer choice” would mean keeping the frunk standard and letting the customer choose whether to use it, but that might just be me.
It’s a shift in tone for Ford, which touted the Mach-E’s frunk as one of its most interesting features back when the car was new. Back then, there was 4.7 cubic feet of storage space available, and even a drainage hole at the bottom allowing ice to melt through so you could use it as a tailgate cooler. That press photo above of people eating shrimp from atop a frozen pile of ice in a Mach-E frunk is seared in my mind forever.
For the 2025 Mach-E, the frunk shrank by 40%, to 2.6 cubic feet, thanks to the installation of a standard heat pump for the batteries, and lost its signature drainage hole. And now, it’s not even standard equipment anymore.
Maybe The Germans Were Right?
In any case, Ford’s move feels like a case of cost-cutting and trying to squeeze more dollars out of customers by paywalling previously standard equipment. But it’s not worth dismissing the company’s analysis entirely.
There are a couple of reasons I could see someone fully ignoring the Mach-E’s frunk for the entire length of their ownership. The most obvious is that there’s a much bigger, easier-to-access storage space in the hatch that takes just one button-press to open (versus two clicks on the key or two pulls of the interior latch for the frunk). And if I’m carrying a bunch of groceries, I’d probably just go to the rear hatch area if I’m not sure everything will fit in the much smaller frunk.
Let me play devil’s advocate for a second: If I’m an automaker looking to optimize cost through design, every inch of the car is under a microscope. And if the folks from the data department are saying people aren’t using their frunks, that allows carmakers to reassess how to use that space more efficiently.
In the case of the Mach-E, designers simply decided a heat pump for quicker charging was more important for customers than 2.1 cubic feet of storage space. Then, for 2026, they figured so few people used the frunk that they wouldn’t mind if it weren’t there at all. And the people who do want one are willing to pay for it. That’s a few extra hundred bucks in my pocket that wasn’t there before, or a couple of hundred bucks saved in parts if the buyer doesn’t choose the frunk.
There’s a packaging angle here, too, at least according to Nissan vice president of global design Alfonso Albaisa, who told Green Car Reports back in 2020 that engine bay space can be used for stuff that was previously inside the cabin, rather than for extra storage:
“The HVAC [heating and air conditioning], all the guts that used to live in the cabin, we shoved them in the engine bay, which has no engine,” said Alfonso Albaisa, regarding its upcoming electric crossover, closely previewed by the Nissan Ariya Concept first shown in the U.S. last month at CES. “Actually if you open the hood on Ariya, it’s full of stuff; that’s what’s given us this completely open cabin.”
All the way back in 2022, my colleague Jason wrote a piece calling out German automakers for not installing frunks on EVs when they very clearly have the engineering know-how to do so. One paragraph stands out with this new context of Ford’s move:
I’ve asked representatives of BMW and Volkswagen about this, right to their faces, and I got essentially the same answer from both companies: what the hell do you need a frunk for when we have so much room in back?
Personally, I couldn’t imagine not using the frunk if I had the option. Sure, it’s usually a small space, but it’s perfect for stuff I don’t want flopping around in the normal trunk area, like charging cables, snow brushes, ice scrapers, first aid kits, and miscellaneous tools. And if my EV were a hatchback, having a storage space that’s truly hidden from view would make keeping valuables in my car, which I park on the street, far less nerve-wracking. In the case of pickup trucks, frunks are even more useful because they provide a lockable, sealed storage space on the vehicle’s exterior that wasn’t there before.
In the case of normal car- and crossover-shaped EVs, automakers think differently, and if Ford’s analysis of how often customers use their frunks is to be believed, the average buyer does, too.
This all leads me to ask: If you have a car with a frunk and a traditional trunk, do you use the frunk? If so, for what? And how often?
Top graphic image: Ford
On things like storage of emergency equipment or items that are infrequently accessed, it’s good to do a Pain In The A$$ (PITA) analysis. Also have to consider if you will be able to quickly access what you need. I store a set of jumper cables, charge adapter, an emergency jump battery and a blanket in the frunk of my Ioniq 6. A recent event convinced me that getting in to the frunk of the car with a dead 12 volt battery on a busy onramp with traffic flying by six inches from the car and in sub-freezing temps has a lower PITA score than trying to access the trunk through an emergency release. I like @Applehugger’s idea of putting the tire repair kit in there as well.
Geez, how did you fit all of that in the frunk of your I6? It’s absurdly small! Good job packing it all in there I guess!
But yes, it’s very easy to get all of the items you mentioned out of a frunk in an emergency.
Military kid and vet that played a lot of Tetris back in the day. I know how to pack…
While I don’t have a vehicle with a Frunk my son does and his gets used extensively. Admittedly it is a Lightning so their is no trunk.
I think the big reason why the Mach-E’s doesn’t get used is that the made it difficult to use. The one in the Lightning, which is powered, has a button accessible from the front to open and close it. It also has a button the dash that is a single push, not a double pull down under the dash.
Yea I think Frunks on trucks make the most sense to give you dry storage.
I wish I had them on my trucks but since I only use my pickups for truck things, not a daily driver, I buy (relatively) cheap old trucks and keep them for a long time.
I firmly believe that frunks which are large enough to be used in place of a trunk should be able to be opened with a key fob/button.
Small ones aren’t going to be used for groceries, so a hood release cable is fine. But large ones, yeah it’s kind of silly to have all that space but have to open the door of the car and pull a lever before you can get to it.
Is it possible to charge non-members by the word?
I have no idea what this is in reference to but I am eagerly looking forward to scrolling down to find out.
I would totally use a frunk for you list of stuff. Tow strap, tie downs, first aid, winter warm gear, tire patch stuff and tools.
BUT
If the loss of a frunk means that crap that is usually difficult to reach and repair because it is hidden deep under the dash is now accessible under the hood like the hvac stuff etc. GO FOR IT!
My emergency kit fits into a small bag with velcro that I stuck to the sidewall in the back hatch of my car – jumper cables & basic tools included. And I have a second first aid kit in the glovebox (quick access when someone notices that they’ve cut themselves and you’re already on the way)
Extra tie-downs sit nicely in the spare wheel well.
It’s all pretty unobtrusive.
Yes I have all that stuff in waterproof bags strapped to the roll bar in the back of my jeep but it would be nice if it was out of the way in a nice frunk.
“In any case, Ford’s move feels like a case of cost-cutting and trying to squeeze more dollars out of customers by paywalling previously standard equipment. But it’s not worth dismissing the company’s analysis entirely.”
Imho, I do think that it’s worth dismissing the company’s analysis completely as corporate BS. This is simply an attempt to extract more money out of buyers on what absolutely should be a standard feature.
I strongly suspect that Ford is justifying this decision by fudging some information on how often people access their frunk. For example, on my I5, I will go weeks without opening the (relatively small) frunk.
However, the cool thing about frunks, even small ones, is that you can store stuff to which you rarely need access, and then if you do need it, you don’t have to take out the cargo liner/net, groceries, bikes, or whatever is in the trunk, to get to the under floor storage.
For example, my frunk contains my L1 charger, tire repair kit, battery booster, and tire pressure gauge. If I was transporting my drumset and needed to get the tire repair kit from underneath the trunk floor, that would be such a massive PITA. Now, I can just pop the hood and get to it in seconds. It’s also a mechanical release, so if my battery dies, I can still easily open the frunk, whereas getting to anything in the trunk would require me to crawl through the vehicle.
I think this is how most people use their frunks*. Stuff that doesn’t get accessed very often goes in there. Although we might not be going in the frunk very often, it still serves a very useful purpose.
* The exception is EVs with huge frunks, like Teslas, Rivians, Lucids, and some GM stuff.
Especially with power-opening frunks, I’ve seen people load groceries into their frunk because it’s easier to access or the groceries won’t move around as much, etc.
The bottom line is that every EV should have a frunk. It’s lazy engineering not to include one, and blatantly anti-consumer to paywall one.
Frunks are a must. This is where you mount the largest speaker possible. Then get a sound track of your favorite V8. Next you hook up the volume to your acceleration pedal Now you have the sound you crave so much, with the acceleration of an EV!
Problem Solved!!
My car only has a frunk.
The 120v charging cable, provided tire goop/inflator and a jug of washer fluid. None of this needs to be inside the car. =)
good list!
Give me frunks of give me death!!!!
Another problem with frunks is dealing with rules around “hey, you can’t stuff a person in them’ and I can see why people wouldn’t want to deal with it.
Yeah, and the rules are that they have a glow in the dark handle it and it’s not safe for the driver if the guy in the Frunk opens it at highway speeds.
Yeah, our regulations have not caught up with current vehicle technology, yet again.
In Europe, RWD Ioniq 5s get a larger frunk than AWD models. In the US, the frunks are the same size because Hyundai didn’t want to engineer a release handle into the frunk for only one model.
Even with the larger frunk, there is absolutely no way a person could fit in there. It’s an absurd rule.
The frunk’s most important function is for the never-ending dad joke of “Hey, can you check my oil?”
GASP! There’s no engine!
*winks at camera*
So did you drive a VW or a Corvair as a kid?
I had a 1965 Corvair Convertible as a daily for a while in like 2004. It was a bad idea, but a really, really fun bad idea.
I tried to fix a 64 Corvair as a kid. The “what happened to my engine!” joke was something that all Corvair owners had to learn to do.
I would love a 2nd gen Convertible. Convert to fuel injection and disk brakes and try to daily it. And end up with tons of tears. Some of joy, some of pain (still have a scar in the back of my hand from a heat shield corner that hit my palm. Yeah, nothing like seeing a corner of a heat shield sticking out of the back of your hand to know that you are going to the hospital).
I bought a ’64 Corvair convertible first and it was beyond fixing. Sent the poor pile of rust and bondo off to the junkyard after the local Corvair club stripped it of parts. The club helped me get the ’65 and get it running, which was really cool of them. I definitely would never try to daily one again. Even with the mods you’re thinking about it would still be a very needy car.
I mean, the Corvair club guys used to act like they were dependable, but (come at me, bro), they were very not dependable.
I have a 2025 Mach-E and I use the frunk for things like the mobile charging cable, a tire changing kit (in case I get a flat and have to remove the tire and get a ride to a tire shop because the fucking thing does not have a spare tire nor spare tire option), and the carpet floor mats that I have not gotten around to putting into storage.
My one complaint is it’s kind of a pain to close, it’s like a hood in that regard, and it sounds like it probably has three latches that unlock to open it (it makes me think of a Transformer when you use the key fob to open it) so you have to really SLAM it shut. All it isn’t that big, it must have been real nice on the 2024 and earlier ones.
I absolutely love the car.
My Smart Roadster Coupe had a frunk. I sold it 15 years ago but I recall that it was pretty big. So big that someone made a kit that replaced its liner with one that had cut outs, to take a spare wheel lying flat. Did I use it? I think I did. Not daily for shopping but for carrying the nonsense that I needed but didn’t want rattling around the cabin. Warning triangle. Little orange drawstring bag with locking wheel nut kit. Jack. Etc. etc. oh. And groceries when they included something frozen, as having the trunk atop that hot little engine was not conducive to getting one’s ice cream home in solid form.
These exact reasons are why I’d absolutely want a frunk if it were possible in a given car
The only things I have in my frunk are an emergency kit and tire inflator. I open it once per year when it gets cold out and I need to fill up my tires. If I didn’t have the frunk, I’d probably put that stuff under the load floor in the trunk with the snow scraper.
First they came for the spare tires and I said nothing. Then they came for the interesting colors and still I said nothing. Then they came for the frunks…
I’ve had a frunk for about 4 years, and have used it maybe 2 or 3 times.
The most recent time was to haul my grandpa’s bear rug (allegedly died of natural causes at a zoo) back home after visiting for Christmas.
Fit perfectly, and crucially isolated the dusty old beast from the cabin.
I mean my only frunked car is my ’71 Bug, where that is the only such space. However, may I postulate a bit?
People often will pull into a perpendicular or slanted parking space nose first. Same with garages. When you do this, the frunk becomes more difficult to access. Not impossible, but a bit more difficult. As creatures who often choose the path of least resistance, we’ll just tend to put our shopping or other stuff in the back instead, because that’s easier to access in most situations.
At least, that’s my educated guess. Replies on a postcard.
Is frunk shrimp better than wheelbarrow shrimp? What would Torch say?
Frunk is an absolute necessity in a EV truck. Even with a tonneau cover, things in the back are not guaranteed to be dry. In the truck I tested, the frunk contents could slide directly out (not up and out). Ended up using it for groceries, luggage, electronics
But there are millions of ICE trucks out there getting by fine without frunks.
Personally, I use the back seat for such items.
The back seat is the move in ICE trucks, but like I mentioned in the article, it leaves open the possibility of thieves peeking into your window to see what you have in there, which wouldn’t be possible if you used a frunk
Fair, only disputing the use of the phrase “absolute necessity” from the previous comment.
The frunk possibility is honestly one of the biggest draws to me of a Lightning. I use my backseat for most everything in my ICE truck. I just do not like the aesthetics of tonneau covers so I would wear a frunk out if I had a Lightning. My wife wants me to get something she would like to drive on occasion (Tesla, Lyriq, i4, etc.). I keep telling my wife that even if the battery life craters after the warranty expires it is still incredibly useful hauling stuff around town as a 3rd vehicle. No luck so far in convincing her.
My Son has a Lightning and his Frunk gets a lot of use. We took it on a road trip and all the luggage and cooler fit in w/o an issue.
Yes! I would have loved to have a frunk when I owned a truck! They are actually really inconvenient for transporting normal stuff, like groceries.
I have had a Boxster as my daily driver for 15 years now, and the frunk space is glorious! The little trunk on that car is filled with assorted stuff I need to haul around all the time, which leaves the frunk available for grocery store runs, bags of mulch, and such. Can’t imagine not using it if I get an electric car (though upgrading to that electric Cayman is looking less possible by the day).
+1 on the Boxster Frunk. It is huge and I use it all the time.
All vehicles should have storage under the hood for a jug of windshield washer fluid. EV, hybrid or ICE.
It pains the Germans to even give us cupholders, so maybe their thoughts on frunks should carry less weight.
I think a frunk is a great place to store a backpack, wallet etc. for a beach day or a particularly small, high dollar item you just bought, but need to stop off somewhere else real quick.
Im Auto sollten Sie weder essen noch trinken. Sie sollten immer beide Hände am Steuer haben.
Funny enough, I use my frunk for groceries all the time. The smaller and deep space is great because crap doesn’t escape the bags and roll around everywhere. It’s also great for my stinky post-ride MTB kit. Especially the shoes.
I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this. Like a fool, I’ve been putting my tub of MTB crap in my passenger seat.
Just don’t forget and leave it in there. I had a mouse or something get in and steal all the padding from my hip pack.
It definitely seems like one of those features people would say they want, then realize they don’t use much. Like offroadiness; people aren’t going offroad to justify that, but they like to think they do/will.
I was excited when I got my current phone to finally have wireless charging, and I have literally never used it.
The liftover of getting things in and out of a frunk is pretty high. If your charging port is up front, it would be good for storing charging cables, adapters, etc.
I had two Leafs- no frunk but the interior was roomy for a small car. I mainly charged at home (the charger used the electric dryer plug as I have a gas dryer) or at public stations, so I don’t think I ever used the charging cable except to try it out once.
It does depend on the vehicle, on the Lightning the opening is down to the bumper so nothing to lift over.