PSA-Front trunk (frunk) unlatched while driving

[C141medic]

When the passenger car is moving forward at a speed of 5 km/h or greater, the release mechanism must release the trunk lid from the primary latching position or latch system, but must not release the trunk lid from the secondary latching position or latch system.

This is exactly what happened. When I stopped, it was only open to the primary latching position.

 

[C141medic]

Indeed strange, if that was it that should have been disabled by interlock when the vehicle was in motion.

On the screen, after the hood had come up and you stopped to Park, did it still show the “Open” button for the frunk (meaning the software thinks the frunk is still closed)?

To be honest I didn’t notice. I sent Tesla an email regarding this and if I ever get a response I’ll post here. In the meantime I’m going to look for a cover to put over the release.

 

[Eno Deb]

To be honest I didn’t notice. I sent Tesla an email regarding this and if I ever get a response I’ll post here. In the meantime I’m going to look for a cover to put over the release.

Inspired by your thread I just repositioned the Tesla tire repair kit right in front of the button (it has velcro on the back, so it sticks to the carpet and doesn't slide around. That should minimize the chances of anything bouncing against the button, and the light still shines over the kit and illuminates the frunk. Should also work with the mobile charger bag if you carry that in the car.

 

[calidreamz808]

seeing as I have the frunk mod struts that open it all the way .. this could be catastrophic if it happened while i'm driving.. kinda scary to think about. hmm

 

[Dan203]

seeing as I have the frunk mod struts that open it all the way .. this could be catastrophic if it happened while i'm driving.. kinda scary to think about. hmm

That's not going to matter. There are two latches. A primary latch that actually locks the hood down and a secondary latch that keeps it from popping up more than a couple inches when moving. It's like the hood latch in an ice car. The lever/button inside the car pops it up, but you still have to manually reach under the lip and pull a lever to open it completely. The difference is that in Tesla's case they can control that second latch automatically. So if you're stopped it pops both latches and lets the hood go. If you're moving it only pops the first one and if there really is someone inside they can manually pull a lever to release the second and if not then it hold the hood down so that it doesn't just fly up in your face and cause a crash. The type of struts you have don't matter. If you were at speed and both latches popped then the force of the wind would open the hood completely even if you had the original struts.

 

[patrick80132]

Yeah, I think that is a bit of a design flaw. The button should be more recessed into the plastic cover. Less likely to be triggered by some item sliding around, and a child trapped in the frunk would still see it and be able to push it.
My guess is that the button is directly wired to the electric latch rather than controlled by the computer, so it reliably opens even if the car is in sleep mode or the computer crashed.

I put my child in the frunk all the time and there is no light in there. It's pretty dark I am told. JK

 

[Scribbious]

Brian at i1Tesla dis some pretty extensive testing here:

 

[Mark Mach]

My very first car was a beater Fiat 500 that I had when I lived in Naples Italy. Not one of these new Fiat 500s—I'm talking about the originals that actually had a 500cc engine. They had a frunk, since the engine was in the rear.

One day, when driving to work, I received a similar alarm: the frunk opens and slams against my windshield while I am doing around 60. I can't see anything in front of me. Unlike other cars that I was accustomed to, there was no gap along the bottom of the hood that you could look under to see where you're going. Fortunately, I managed to make it to the shoulder without killing anyone, and got it taken care of.

So, on the bright side, I think the Tesla alarm is much better than the one that I had on my Fiat 500.

 

[hmgolds]

Brian at i1Tesla dis some pretty extensive testing here:

I had the frunk unlatch twice (before I figured it out) from an object that hit the button.

 

[Hkbruin]

FYI: there is a TSB for this. If you take your Tesla in for service, they will perform this fix.

 

[dazizmor]

I can't be the only one who has discovered that the frunk is the perfect size for a giant pack of Costco toilet paper, can I?

 

[BluestarE3]

FYI: there is a TSB for this. If you take your Tesla in for service, they will perform this fix.

What is the nature of the fix? Redesigned part?

 

[Dan203]

My very first car was a beater Fiat 500 that I had when I lived in Naples Italy. Not one of these new Fiat 500s—I'm talking about the originals that actually had a 500cc engine. They had a frunk, since the engine was in the rear.

One day, when driving to work, I received a similar alarm: the frunk opens and slams against my windshield while I am doing around 60. I can't see anything in front of me. Unlike other cars that I was accustomed to, there was no gap along the bottom of the hood that you could look under to see where you're going. Fortunately, I managed to make it to the shoulder without killing anyone, and got it taken care of.

So, on the bright side, I think the Tesla alarm is much better than the one that I had on my Fiat 500.

I was with a friend once who had this happen in an old truck. It actually bent one of the support arm things so bad it wouldn't close right after that. He drove around for a while with a bungee holding the hood down.

 

[BluestarE3]

I can't be the only one who has discovered that the frunk is the perfect size for a giant pack of Costco toilet paper, can I?

Welcome to the TMC forums, but what does this have to do with the frunk/hood release latch?

 

[ConcordeSST]

Just an FYI, this happened to me as well while driving and I discovered that it is extremely easy to disable the internal frunk release button. If you just grasp the plastic housing around the frunk latch mechanism, it easily pulls off with a light tug and there's a small cable running to that button that can easily be pulled out. It doesn't affect the ability to open the frunk from the screen or phone app as normal.

As others have mentioned, when this happened, even though the frunk was popped up, I could not open the frunk due to the secondary latch. I had to open it again from the screen before I could lift the frunk lid.

 

[navguy12]

So, I was driving to work today going down the highway and all of a sudden I get this warning on my screen: “Front trunk unlatched-please close the front trunk before driving.”

Really caught me off guard as I was doing about 60MPH. I pull over to the side of the road and close the frunk. After about another 5 minutes or so I get the same warning. I was almost at my work lot so I continued at a low speed and parked. I discovered that my backpack, which had a bottle of water on the side, was sliding and hitting upon the inside frunk release and opening it while driving.

I now know for the next time. But I would’ve thought that if the inside frunk release was inadvertently activated at highway speeds it shouldn’t be opening? The good thing is it was only partially open and not totally unlatched.

View attachment 448862

Agreed that the software should know at 60 mph not to activate that internal latch.

Could you pass that onto Tesla?

 

[C141medic]

Agreed that the software should know at 60 mph not to activate that internal latch.

Could you pass that onto Tesla?

Already done. Haven’t heard back from Tesla yet.

 

[Pacific NW P3D]

Thanks for sharing! I didn’t realize there was a release inside. Check out my reddit community r/whatsinthefrunk

 

[Dan203]

Just an FYI, this happened to me as well while driving and I discovered that it is extremely easy to disable the internal frunk release button. If you just grasp the plastic housing around the frunk latch mechanism, it easily pulls off with a light tug and there's a small cable running to that button that can easily be pulled out. It doesn't affect the ability to open the frunk from the screen or phone app as normal.

Pretty sure this is illegal. It's a safety feature intended to protect children.

 

[ConcordeSST]

Pretty sure this is illegal. It's a safety feature intended to protect children.

I understand the legality and the purpose of it. I should have clarified that I'm not advocating permanent disablement, just offering a potential temporary option to prevent this from happening if you know you're going to put something in the frunk that can trigger it.