The Ford Mustang Mach-E has been far more popular than die-hard fans of the brand could have ever foreseen. Despite being a crossover with an electric powertrain, this Mustang has been a record-breaker in many ways and has even received official police certification. Now it's almost time for the 2022 model to arrive, and we recently learned that this would be arriving with bigger batteries and greater range, but that's not all that will be changing for the new model year. In what may seem like a silly move, Ford is renaming the front trunk of the crossover. Why? Because that's not the correct name.
Ford's Nancy Reppenhagen spoke about the F-150 Lightning's front trunk earlier in the year too, saying that "the words 'front trunk' don't even begin to describe all the innovation and capability Ford packed into this high-powered space." She continued: "It will have customers rethinking what their truck is capable of - and enable the kinds of experiences they never would have thought possible before."
It sounds a bit silly, but Ford doesn't want the buying public getting confused, so the front trunk is now being renamed the frunk. Although many would argue that these are the same things, Ford Authority reports that internal documents have renamed the cargo area because the former two-word descriptor was too clunky.
The space ahead of the windshield and beneath the hood area of the Mustang Mach-E remains exactly the same as before, with 4.8 cubic feet of capacity and drain holes to allow you to store ice or other potentially leaky items in the frunk without having to worry about a mess. It's these drain holes that have caused Ford to proclaim that its frunk is special and far more "capable" than a traditional trunk area. Ultimately, most people won't be interested in this information if the capability of the crossover remains at least as good as that off the outgoing model, but this change in the name shows that Ford is continually aiming to refine its EVs as the market becomes evermore competitive.
The frunk has been a common automotive phrase for nearly a decade, after being popularized by automotive media to describe the Tesla Model S's front trunk. Welcome to 2012, Ford.