There are many advantages to owning an electric vehicle (EV). The most apparent pluses are not having to fill up a gas tank and eliminating tailpipe emissions. But there are other benefits, as well.
Take, for instance, the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup. Because there's no internal-combustion engine (ICE) or mechanicals under the hood, engineers seized a tremendous opportunity for storage space that would never be possible with a traditional gas-powered truck. As a result, the Ford Mega Power Frunk—a large, lockable weather-tight storage compartment—was born.
The word "frunk" comes from the words "front" and "trunk." Silly sounding as it may be, a frunk is an astonishingly practical addition to a vehicle's layout and configuration. Over the years, smaller cars with engines in the rear have offered this feature, though it is rare.
Thanks to electrification, the frunk is a newly created space for truck owners. Trucks have never offered storage at the front of the vehicle until now. Because the F-150 Lightning's electric powertrain—battery and motors—resides entirely beneath the pickup's body, a whole new cargo compartment has emerged. This setup gives truck owners a new level of flexibility, versatility, and hauling capacity.
Even the weekly grocery run becomes less cumbersome with a frunk. Usually, groceries would go in the back seat of a pickup truck, where they would often spill across the seats and floor. But with Ford's Mega Power Frunk, groceries stay safe, secure, and upright from store to home.
With 400 liters of volume or about 14 cubic feet, Ford claims the Mega Power Frunk is the largest front trunk available. For comparison, that's about the size of the trunk in the Toyota Corolla, which is large enough to store two sets of golf clubs and has room left over. And if the truck's cab is full of passengers, there's enough room to carry several small overnight bags and duffels, making the F-150 Lightning a proper weekend road-trip vehicle.
The frunk also has a payload capacity of 400 pounds. It can store several satchels of ready-mix cement, sand, dirt, gravel, or other dense building or ground cover materials. Clearly, the Ford Power Mega Frunk becomes the ideal space to haul extra items if the pickup bed is full following a run to the hardware/lumber/supply store.
The Ford Mega Power Frunk has four 120-volt electric outlets and two USB plugs. Providing 2.4 kilowatts of power, the outlets will support various devices, including smartphones, laptops, power tools, campsite lighting, tailgating appliances, and virtually anything powered in-home.
The Mega Power Frunk has drain holes for transporting coolers, ice, and liquids for added versatility. And the entire space is moisture-sealed, so owners can hose it out or wipe it down if it becomes soiled or sticky.
The practicality doesn't end there. A handy underfloor compartment makes room for smaller items and tools that may roll around the frunk if stored loosely. You might also find this feature in the cargo area of an SUV or the bed of a pickup truck.
The Ford Mega Power Frunk started as a simple cardboard box. Designers cut out a front door and a liftable hood to demonstrate what the F-150 Lightning pickup could offer over its ICE-powered counterparts. The cardboard box design came to fruition after abundant customer feedback during the development phase.
There are several ways to open and close the Mega Power Frunk, including via the remote fob, grille-mounted button, exterior keypad, or from the vehicle's cockpit. Furthermore, the hood's opening height is adjustable, ideal for carports or garages with lower ceilings.
Ford's Mega Power Frunk brings new practicality and space to the pickup truck segment with its sheer size, ample power supply, drainable floor, and ease of access. It is the ideal solution for storing items out of the elements and away from sight without taking up any additional room in a truck's bed or passenger compartment. Genius.
Real insights from real owners
© 2022 J.D.Power. All rights reserved.
© 2019 J.D.Power. All rights reserved.