Just imagine the tailgating potential of an EV with a cold frunk!
Key Takeaways
- A climate-controlled frunk in Ford vehicles could maintain the temperature of your items, keeping them warm or cold depending on your needs.
- Ford filed a patent for this innovation in 2022 to make the frunk even more useful, with dividers to separate items with different temperature needs.
- While this patent filing doesn’t guarantee the technology will be implemented, it shows Ford’s commitment to innovation in vehicles like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E.
Ford is working on a climate-controlled frunk that could be the best reason yet for buying an electric vehicle. A frunk, or front trunk, is the extra storage space under the hood of the car where the engine usually sits.
The size and versatility of a frunk varies greatly with some offering enough room for only small stuff like a pair of boots and maybe a small lunchbag, while others are absolutely gigantic. The Ford F-150 Lightning has a frunk with 14.1 cubic feet of space and is wide enough for a set of golf clubs. But what if it could also maintain a set temperature to protect whatever is inside?
Keep Cool Stuff Cool
According to MotorAuthority, Ford filed a patent back in 2022 that was only recently published by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a climate-controlled frunk. This nifty frunk would be able to keep things warm or cold depending on what you stow.
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This is just one of three patents that we’ve uncovered showing how Ford aims to make the Mega Frunk even more useful.
Ford was even clever enough to realize that a large frunk might have a multitude of items with different temperature requirements. A series of dividers could be inserted where needed to divide up the frunk so you could keep perishables cold without freezing the spare boots you brought for your hike.
Will It Happen?
The system could work by being a sort of extension of the interior climate control system on a separate loop. Alternately, it could be run by an entirely separate system with similar hardware to the internal HVAC setup.
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This is just a patent filing, which doesn’t mean it will ever come to fruition. Automakers file patents all the time just in case technologies that are in the early idea stages prove doable. It basically lays the groundwork for Ford’s system to be Ford’s alone. This one has great potential, especially for vehicles like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, which have frunks large enough for all your groceries or fantastic tailgating.
Source: MotorAuthority
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