Since there is no engine under the hood, many electric vehicles replace this area with a secondary trunk. Companys like Ford and Tesla have taken to calling this feature a "frunk," but this is not a new phenomenon. The frunk nickname has existed for years on mid-engined supercars and the Porsche 911, so it doesn't seem like any automaker owns the rights to the term. General Motors would clearly prefer to have a name it can control, which is why the company just filed a new trademark application.

GM filed for the name "ETRUNK" with the USPTO on June 28, 2021. The trademark filing reads pretty specifically, "intended to cover the categories of integral components of electric land vehicles, namely, front storage compartments." The writing appears to be on the wall for this one.

The ETrunk name (it's unclear which letters will or will not be capitalized) seems like a decent one to describe the frontal storage area in an EV. This name sounds less silly than the word frunk, and it gives GM a unique name that no other automaker could copy.

We've seen GM use the "frunk" nomenclature to describe the 2022 GMC Hummer EV in press releases before, but this doesn't mean the company won't pivot before the model goes on sale.

This storage area holds up to 11.3 cubic feet in the Hummer Pickup and nine cubic feet in the Hummer SUV.

Besides the Hummer, it's unclear which other upcoming GM EVs could get an ETrunk. We already know the Cadillac Lyriq won't have a storage area up front, and the name doesn't make much sense on the Chevy Corvette. This leaves a few other potential options that were teased at CES, including the already-confirmed Silverado Electric. It makes sense for GM to claim the name now before the Hummer launches so it can use the term on future EVs.