Frunk Thoughts or Engineering Disaster

[RobDickinson]

I remember one of the first EV adopters who was on a trip and was unable to find a charger. Seems that he ended up tossing wires, which he had stripped a little near the middle, up and over power lines. These he connected to an inverter he carried which he then connected to his car. He was one of the first to attempt (and succeed) in driving an EV across the country. Thankfully we don't have those problems now.

Yeah that happened..

 

[LoudMusic]

I think you'll have trouble beating the Bollinger front trunk design.

Bollinger Motors unveils two futuristic electric trucks

Bollinger Motors, founded in 2015 by Robert Bollinger, manufactures the B1 Electric Sport Utility Truck and B2 Electric Pickup Truck.

www.rvtravel.com

BOLLINGER

Bollinger Motors is an all-American electric truck manufacturer, making the most dependable electric medium-duty commercial trucks available.

bollingermotors.com

 

[wws]

Holy crap.. and here I thought that Winslow AZ only having 1 charger was rough Road tripping is interesting in an EV.. longer range spoils us.. mine is only 200 miles ( 90% ) and so something like going from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon and getting to the next charger is a bit dicy. So I'm not sure I agree with the "we dont have those problems now".. still there.. just different. If you stay on the interstate.. thats one thing.. but getting off and exploring is a different conversation all together.

If you want to see an EV challenge, read up on Oliver Fritchle's 1908 EV road trip across the country. He lived in Denver, and built his own EVs. (His EVs even had an early form of regenerative braking which was useful when driving in the hills surrounding Denver.) Challenged his competitors on a drive to New York. No one took him up on it, so he did it solo. He actually started in Lincoln, Nebraska - as he couldn't figure out how to get from Denver to Lincoln. He eventually made it the whole way to NY, despite the fact that there was little electrical infrastructure at the time - let alone dedicated EV charging facilities.

 

[randmness]

I tend to doubt it. People like a hood. Even in the original VW beetle, there was a "frunk", and the hood, at least on my Teslas, is gently sloped to get greater aerodynamics and therefore greater range. And, by the way, I like having a frunk. It's full of all my charging cables and adapters. Good place for them, and I'm ready for just about anything.

That's true but VW also made a car that didnt have a frunk/front hood at all. The VW bus was pretty much all interior space lol. The rumored electric version appears to carry this on.

I think the popularity of the hood is mainly a thing of today's EVs largely carrying the same design/familiarity of ICE cars. Even with today's cars, there are entire segments of the market (like kei cars for example) that sacrifice front hood/engine/space in favor of the interior cabin. I cant imagine the EVs of tomorrow needing a frunk (or a front hood for that matter; youre already starting to see this in EV concept designs) but I can't guess the future. I honestly dont use the frunk as much as the trunk, mainly because of the ease of using the rear powered liftgate (I keep the cables under the rear floor.)

I would also like to see smaller (footprint-wise) EVs as today, they're all kinda large/long (I'm sure we'll see advancements there too with time); my M3P is the longest car I've ever owned . If vehicles shrunk in footprint, I imagine combining the space would be more beneficial than splitting it into two smaller spaces (at least in terms of usability.)

 

[SteelClouds]

I would also like to see smaller (footprint-wise) EVs as today, they're all kinda large/long (I'm sure we'll see advancements there too with time); my M3P is the longest car I've ever owned . If vehicles shrunk in footprint, I imagine combining the space would be more beneficial than splitting it into two smaller spaces (at least in terms of usability.)

yeah.. we are looking at a Volks EV Golf ( 2018) for a first car for one our kids. Its got short legs but its a great size for going around town and to school. Its also very ICE like on the inside so its more like what she has learned to drive on. She doesn't get to drive the Tesla at all. .insurance for her would kill me.

 

[RobDickinson]

I think you'll have trouble beating the Bollinger front trunk design.

Bollinger Motors unveils two futuristic electric trucks

Bollinger Motors, founded in 2015 by Robert Bollinger, manufactures the B1 Electric Sport Utility Truck and B2 Electric Pickup Truck.

www.rvtravel.com

BOLLINGER

Bollinger Motors is an all-American electric truck manufacturer, making the most dependable electric medium-duty commercial trucks available.

bollingermotors.com

Which isnt making production sadly.

As for a frunk, smaller city cars etc will have short fronts, already do.


But most cars wont, they need the shape for aero and the space for crash structure

 

[LoudMusic]

Which isnt making production sadly.

As for a frunk, smaller city cars etc will have short fronts, already do.


But most cars wont, they need the shape for aero and the space for crash structure

I'm a little bummed that it's not going to be produced, but I think they had a starting price of like $150K, which is obviously laughable.

 

[RobDickinson]

Small hand built low volume trucks not surprising on price.

 

[LoudMusic]

I still wanted one Couldn't afford it! But I still wanted one ...

 

[Calliope]

I like my frunk too (Tesla MYLR) - it holds my windshield washer fluid jug(s), charging cables, and 12V battery charger with lots of space to spare.

 

[SteelClouds]

I use mine for stuff like but really for cooked food being brought home. I hate my car smelling like dinner. So sticking it in the Frunk has been very useful given there is not much isolation in the trunk vs cabin.

 

[Vaillant]

In kind of related news, is it against some sort of vehicle code to have a powered frunk? Does any manufacturer offer it?

Without it, I don’t like using the Tesla frunk. With it, it’s great.

 

[RobDickinson]

I think several vehicles do have a powered funk, the lightning, rivian, hummer?

 

[Vaillant]

I think several vehicles do have a powered funk, the lightning, rivian, hummer?

For some reason I thought the Lightning was manual, but having just looked, I see some videos from Ford showing it is powered.

So, as a demerit for Tesla on the engineering side, not having a powered frunk on their cars is a miss.

 

[RobDickinson]

All engineering is a compromise, you can fit a kit to do it even on a tesla, but there is a cost.

 

[randmness]

I use mine for stuff like but really for cooked food being brought home. I hate my car smelling like dinner. So sticking it in the Frunk has been very useful given there is not much isolation in the trunk vs cabin.

Yea, in all honesty, the only time I use my frunk is when I'm transporting frozen food home from the store in the winter (since its not insulated), and I'm not driving directly home.

I dont store my cables in there simply because in the summer, I imagine the frunk has gotta be hot enough to slowly bake some cookies lol. There's a video of someone testing the frunk temperatures when the outdoor temperature is 85F; I believe the frunk temp hit nearly 125F+ after 25 min (outside the operating range of the connector.)

 

[3sr+buyer]

I think the popularity of the hood is mainly a thing of today's EVs largely carrying the same design/familiarity of ICE cars. Even with today's cars, there are entire segments of the market (like kei cars for example) that sacrifice front hood/engine/space in favor of the interior cabin. I cant imagine the EVs of tomorrow needing a frunk (or a front hood for that matter; youre already starting to see this in EV concept designs) but I can't guess the future.

The front end does have another function: crumple zone for crash protection. Granted, it can be very short (e.g. Chevrolet Bolt, which shoves all of the non-battery parts of the powertrain there and leaves the rest of the car for interior room), but there probably needs to be some space between the front bumper and the front seats (you probably do not want to get in a frontal crash in an old aircooled VW Bus). Note that the VW ID.Buzz and the Canoo vehicles have some space in front of the front seats even though they look flat-nosed.

 

[3sr+buyer]

I would also like to see smaller (footprint-wise) EVs as today, they're all kinda large/long (I'm sure we'll see advancements there too with time); my M3P is the longest car I've ever owned . If vehicles shrunk in footprint, I imagine combining the space would be more beneficial than splitting it into two smaller spaces (at least in terms of usability.)

Seems like the Chevrolet Bolt is the answer to small-footprint EVs, but its relatively slow "fast" charging may be a turn-off for those who want to go on road trips. Of course there is also the issue of lack of availability when GM got burned by LG batteries...

But, in the US, it does seem like most companies are shifting to big SUVs and the like for EVs, like they are for ICEVs. Or luxury sedans like the Lucid Air and Mercedes-Benz EQS.

 

[sleepydoc]

That's true but VW also made a car that didnt have a frunk/front hood at all. The VW bus was pretty much all interior space lol. The rumored electric version appears to carry this on.

I think the popularity of the hood is mainly a thing of today's EVs largely carrying the same design/familiarity of ICE cars. Even with today's cars, there are entire segments of the market (like kei cars for example) that sacrifice front hood/engine/space in favor of the interior cabin. I cant imagine the EVs of tomorrow needing a frunk (or a front hood for that matter; youre already starting to see this in EV concept designs) but I can't guess the future. I honestly dont use the frunk as much as the trunk, mainly because of the ease of using the rear powered liftgate (I keep the cables under the rear floor.)

I would also like to see smaller (footprint-wise) EVs as today, they're all kinda large/long (I'm sure we'll see advancements there too with time); my M3P is the longest car I've ever owned . If vehicles shrunk in footprint, I imagine combining the space would be more beneficial than splitting it into two smaller spaces (at least in terms of usability.)

Some of the cars definitely look like they just took the engine out of the old ICE platform and left everything else the same.

The front end does have another function: crumple zone for crash protection. Granted, it can be very short (e.g. Chevrolet Bolt, which shoves all of the non-battery parts of the powertrain there and leaves the rest of the car for interior room), but there probably needs to be some space between the front bumper and the front seats (you probably do not want to get in a frontal crash in an old aircooled VW Bus). Note that the VW ID.Buzz and the Canoo vehicles have some space in front of the front seats even though they look flat-nosed.

yes, I was going to say the same thing. The old VW Bus was notorious for the fact that the only thing between the driver and the next car was the spare tire! The front of a car serves a very definite purpose in passenger protection.

 

[Allaiss]

I looked at the Kia EV.6. Frunk with almost zero space. Ioniq 5 is similar to Kia. Kia EV 6 frunk below. And my iPhone kept trying to correct frunk to drunk, which is clearly what some of these engineers were when designing these components. Makes me really thankful to own a Tesla.