Big hole in frunk for suspension components? Why?

[dwbv]

Ever since I took the frunk apart due to my battery heater issue recently, I've been very curious to ask why Tesla put a big hole under the hood where the front suspension shock is and then just covered it up with a flimsy molded sheet of rubber?

Forgive the newbie curiosity and I tried searching but came up with nothing definitive. Anyone know why this design came about? Seems like a surefire way to introduce the elements into the frunk where it seems a lot of vital components are located? Any concern about rain or snow in particular? What about underside car wash?

I've never seen this ever in all of my life owning cars.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Why do you think the car is so low at front and how there can be mounted such a large size wheels?

 

[NewbyMaybe]

They could have sealed that but the expense probably wasn't justified due to the existing seals on the components.

 

[Hayseed_MS]

Everything added to the car adds weight and cost. Tesla found that it was not needed for the car and saved the weight and cost. No elements have entered my frunk at all from any direction through snow, rain, and underbody washes.

 

[dwbv]

Everything added to the car adds weight and cost. Tesla found that it was not needed for the car and saved the weight and cost. No elements have entered my frunk at all from any direction through snow, rain, and underbody washes.

Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to see that the design is keeping the frunk safe. I only drive about 5k miles per year so it may not be as relevant to me more so a curiosity.

 

[dwbv]

Why do you think the car is so low at front and how there can be mounted such a large size wheels?

Could you elaborate? My A8 is not much taller in the front and has 21 inch wheels as well yet no hole?

Are you saying that big hole is necessary vs cost-savings?

 

[NewbyMaybe]

Ice's are designed for air to flow from the grill to the back of the engine and down to remove heat when necessary. Open strut towers would interfere with that.

 

[vcor]

Could you elaborate? My A8 is not much taller in the front and has 21 inch wheels as well yet no hole?

Are you saying that big hole is necessary vs cost-savings?

Weight savings is more important in EV, which are made up of many important choices throughout the car. It can even be more expensive to save weight as it may require secondary manufacturing operations to cut holes to reduce material and careful structural design choices. I doubt it was done for cost savings.

ICE cars often do little to optimize weight (although the A8 aluminum does help). Legacy manufacturers often use what's in the corporate parts bin so it may not be optimized for a specific car and/or it's the cheapest way to make the part.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Agree with the other comments, my first impression was totally on the other end compared to OP. I was amazed how this was achieved as with this big hole they have managed to get rid of almost two layers of sheet metal that is used on other designs. With the four wither that I have had, I can’t complain any water ingress to the frunk or any parts behind there.