Ford Now Charging $495 for Frunk

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Ford is apparently now doing something very weird and yet very normal in the auto industry. One of the benefits of electric vehicles has long been their frunks. Not all EVs have one, but almost all of them do. Not needing to have a huge, clunky engine under the front hood, Tesla launched the idea of a large front trunk, or “frunk,” back when it launched the Model S in 2012. Since then, it has been the norm in new EV models to offer a frunk.

Ford has shown off its EV frunks in multiple ways, and highlighted that the F-150 Lightning had the biggest and the bestest. Marketing materials for the Mustang Mach-E has shown people using the frunk in fun and creative — and useful — ways.

Now, however, if you want a frunk on your Mustang Mach-E, you’ve got to pay an extra $495 for it.

EV owners have become accustomed to getting a nice little — or large — frunk with their EVs. It’s one of those fun extra benefits of an EV. Some people hardly use their frunk, but others make enormous use of the extra space. But having to pay extra for one? That just seems ridiculous.

Of course, it’s pretty common practice in the auto industry to charge for all kinds of extra features and add-ons. Start with a low price but then jack it up several thousand dollars with extras — that’s the clever MBA approach to squeezing more money out of consumers. Is this change from Ford adding an extra cost to a Mustang Mach-E frunk just a “meh, automakers are doing it again” story, or is this an egregious assault on one of the basic benefits of an EV?

I lean toward the latter, especially because, what is Ford going to do in place of the frunk for people who don’t pay the extra $495? This space is just going to be covered up? Ford doesn’t need to put anything else in that space. It’s not like it’s going to be used in any other way and putting a frunk in costs Ford a lot of money. It just seems ridiculous to make two different versions of that area (which comes at its own cost) in order to try to squeeze more money out of consumers instead of giving them a normal, common, fun EV feature.

And $495 for what is effectively an empty space and a plastic tub? Perhaps it would be less offensive and irritating if it was $49. But charging $495 for this?

Well, this is certainly one way to piss off customers and potential customers. I’m curious to see if Ford sticks to its dollar-squeezing change here or notices strong customer backlash and makes the frunk a default part of the Mustang Mach-E again.