A cardboard box found a new lease on life after being recruited by Ford to help develop a new feature known as the Mega Power Frunk. The all-electric 2022 F-150 Lightning pickup’s new front trunk or, as it’s known in industry speak “frunk” is the largest in the truck industry – with 400 litres (14.1 cubic feet) of cargo space and maximum payload capacity of 400 pounds.
“The F-150 Lightning pickup’s Mega Power Frunk is one of those features that reshape what vehicles can provide for customers. It’s sheer size, ample power supply, drainable floor and open and close system that opens with the touch of a button make it frunking awesome!” said Linda Zhang, F-150 Lightning Chief Program Engineer.
What many don’t know is this spacious and dynamic space began life as a simple cardboard box with a cutout front door and a liftable hood.
Understanding the Customer’s Needs
It began back in February 2018 with Team Edison – Ford’s dedicated battery electric vehicles incubator that incorporates close collaboration between different teams to find solutions to customer needs. A small group of young user experience designers set out to California, where they sat down with actual Ford truck and fleet customers to talk about how they might use such a feature. The prototype, made of cardboard for simplicity and cost and built in about a day using scissors and hot glue, was brought to every meeting to help customers visualize the opportunity.
“Since the frunk was a new space, all the truck customers we interacted with got really excited about what it could be and what use they could get out of it in their daily lives,” said Ardisana. “We needed to take what they wanted and find a way to deliver on it.”
Truck customers imagined fitting not one, but two golf bags, even when it wasn’t a golf day. The additional permanent storage keeps valuables out of sight, is lockable and secure. Fleet owners saw their crews using the space to haul bags of concrete and charge their electric tools at construction sites. Customers also wanted lights to see at night, electric outlets, a work surface and optimized access height to make the space truly usable. All of these valuable insights were derived from a simple piece of cardboard.
Lighting and power
Lighting began as typical trunk lighting. It was functional, but the “wow” factor was missing. So the team pivoted and installed truck bed lamps in the frunk hood.
Four electrical outlets and two USB chargers were added to provide versatility for work and play. 2.4 kilowatts of power are available for everything from TVs to laptops, speakers to crockpots, power tools and other devices.
Accessible, drainable and opening and closing with ease
Lastly, access to lift and remove objects from the frunk had to be waist-height, as customers did not want to have to reach over the truck’s bed rails for their equipment, so the grille was incorporated into the hood. The Mega Power Frunk has a powered open and close system also with six different ways to open it, including from your phone on the FordPass app as well as through an integrated push button on the grille.
Once the frunk is open, customers can fill it with ice and drinks to “frunkgate” it, since it’s water-resistant, cleanable and has a drainable floor.
If you’re interested in test driving a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning, please click the button below. Depending on current conditions, traditional test drives may not be available so we’ll contact you to discuss what is possible. Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.
Please Note: The details of this article were accurate at the time it was written. Manufacturers may change the details of any vehicle’s specifications, at any time, without notice.
