It looks like Tesla's Cybertruck is missing 1 thing Ford nailed in its electric truck: A big frunk
- Tesla Cybertruck buyers may be disappointed in the size of its front trunk.
- Front trunks, or frunks, are a favorite feature among electric-vehicle owners.
The Ford F-150 Lightning looks like it has one big edge over Tesla's upcoming Cybertruck. And it has to do with what is — or isn't — under the hood.
Since they don't have a bulky engine, electric vehicles often offer extra cargo room up front in the form of a front trunk (AKA frunk). It's a bonus area you can use when the actual trunk is packed to the gills, and it's one of the things EV owners love most about their cars. Not all EVs have them, but all Teslas and many others do.
Judging by an unverified photo posted online and first spotted by the EV news website Electrek, the Cybertruck's frunk looks rather tiny, which may disappoint potential buyers.
(It's worth noting that this is probably isn't what the final frunk will look like. In production trucks, there will likely be some kind of insert that hides all the exposed mechanical bits. And we don't know how close the vehicle pictured here is to production-ready.)
Tesla hasn't provided actual dimensions of the frunk, so we can't be totally sure of its size. But it looks like it's no match for the F-150's, which holds about as much stuff as a Honda Civic's trunk. I mean, just look at it:
It's unclear from the photos whether there's any room for a frunk at all, but Tesla's website says the Cybertruck will indeed have one.
GMC's Hummer EV and Rivian's R1T have large front trunks, as do upcoming e-pickups from Ram and Chevy. It makes sense that the Cybertruck's frunk would be practically nonexistent, since its futuristic wedge shape and long windshield leave almost no hood at all. The electric trucks from major automakers look basically like regular gas-powered ones, so they have long hoods and room underneath to play around with.
Frunks play an important role for EV truck buyers, since they provide lockable, weatherproof storage and mean not everything needs to go in the bed. When I drove the F-150 Lighting last year, the truck's frunk easily handled multiple backpacks and duffels that I didn't want sliding around in the bed.
The Cybertruck won't leave buyers starved for cargo space, though. Tesla says it will have a six-foot bed, an under-bed compartment, and extra exterior storage in the diagonal pieces that run from the cab to the back of the bed.
Tesla's Texas factory just built its first Cybertruck, and deliveries are set to begin later this year — two years behind schedule.