What is a frunk — and which EVs have the best ones?

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If you’ve spent any time around electric vehicles, you’ve probably heard the word “frunk.” It’s a made-up word, but it describes something very real: the storage compartment under the hood of an electric car. It’s a front trunk. A frunk.

Gas-powered cars use almost all the space under the hood for the engine, radiator, and other mechanical parts. EVs have electric motors that are much smaller, and in many designs, the motor sits near the axle rather than filling the entire front of the car. That frees up a useful chunk of space that engineers have turned into extra storage. Here’s a look at what frunks are, why they matter, and which EVs have the best ones.

Why EVs have frunks

A traditional gas engine is big. It takes up most of the space under the hood and requires a long list of supporting parts: the radiator, coolant lines, air intake, exhaust manifold, and more. When you lift the hood on a gas car, there’s almost no room to put anything.

Electric motors are compact. A single motor can fit in a much smaller space, and many EVs use motors mounted directly at the wheels or near the axles rather than in a large engine bay. That leaves a cavity at the front of the car that would otherwise just sit empty. So automakers turned it into storage.

Not every EV has a frunk. Some, especially smaller models, use that space for other mechanical components, such as power electronics or cooling systems. But many do, and in trucks and larger SUVs, the frunks have gotten surprisingly large.

The F-150 Lightning: The frunk king

When Ford revealed the F-150 Lightning, one of the biggest talking points was the frunk. And for good reason. The Lightning’s frunk holds 14.1 cubic feet, which ties it with the Tesla Cybertruck for the largest frunk on the market. That’s about the size of a large suitcase, and then some.

But what makes the Lightning’s frunk truly useful is everything built into it. It includes four 120-volt power outlets, two USB charging ports, and a drain plug in the floor. That drain plug means you can fill the frunk with ice and use it as a massive cooler at a tailgate or campsite. The outlets mean you can power tools, fans, or small appliances right from the front of the truck. It’s not just storage. It’s a utility station.

Rivian’s gear tunnel adds even more

The Rivian R1T and R1S offer 11.1 cubic feet in the frunk alone, but Rivian went further with a feature unique to its design: the gear tunnel. This pass-through storage compartment runs between the cab and the bed on the R1T pickup. It adds another 11.6 cubic feet and is long enough to hold items like tent poles, skis, or fishing rods that won’t fit in normal storage.

Combined, the Rivian R1T has more hidden storage than almost anything else on the road. For people who spend time outdoors and need to carry gear, it’s a genuinely clever design.

The Chevrolet Silverado EV eTrunk

Chevy calls its frunk the eTrunk, and it offers 10.7 cubic feet of space with a flat floor. That flat floor is a practical detail. Frunks with curved or uneven floors can make it hard to pack things neatly. The Silverado EV’s flat design means a standard-size suitcase fits in without tilting or wedging.