How the Mach-E frunk was redesigned and simplified

[phidauex]

I'm in (nyuk nyuk nyuk)

Nobody puts baby in this frunk!

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[GreaseMonkey]

The divider was required because there was no emergency escape mechanism fir a child, since babies don't often climb into cars on their own.

Fun fact, the Lightning frunk emergency button was easily bumped by things like golf clubs (frunk won't open while driving but it sets off a warning message), so Ford has to redesign it. People designed multiple covers, I printed one at my library.

To me, missing the issue entirely on the Mach-E was a major cluster. Someone should have been fired. Very sloppy. I swapped my 2021 frunk with my 2022 to keep the insert, I like it.

My cover is Lightning blue.

They had the release button in the earliest version. But it wasn’t operational for 6+ months. Here’s a pic:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...storage-system-shown-in-images.946/post-33719

 

[RickMachE]

They had the release button in the earliest version. But it wasn’t operational for 6+ months. Here’s a pic:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...storage-system-shown-in-images.946/post-33719

Therefore, they had no operational emergency escape mechanism.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Therefore, they had no operational emergency escape mechanism.

Yes. My point is that it’s worse than forgetting. They didn’t forget. They had a button but couldn’t get it to work.

There are 100s of posts wondering what the divider was for. Some even speculating that it was to help separate the shrimps from the chicken wings.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

We have to be results, not process-oriented. I’m sure they had the “meeting”. But what came out of it was less than ideal.

And the original design was not just “sub-optimal”. If it were, Ford would have punted to the next gen to fix. They didn’t. They fixed it right away. And what they came up with was BRILLIANT! And they deserve a lot of credit for it.

Btw, GM’s ignition recall that caused the death of 169 people was over a $0.90 savings. So $30 a car is a shit ton of money. Pls remember that at the time Ford tooled Cuautitlán Assembly for 300,000 units on a 3 crew operation.

Lastly, if you really think molding is black magic, I’d love to take you on a tour of a steel mill. Or a stamping or body shop. That my friend is where witchcraft happens. Insane level of complexity. Disclaimer: I’m a metal melter, bender, and welder. So I’m clearly biased.

Note: my intent is not to argue, simply to clarify some aspects that I respectfully disagree with you on.

We have to be results, not process-oriented. I’m sure they had the “meeting”. But what came out of it was less than ideal.

And the original design was not just “sub-optimal”. If it were, Ford would have punted to the next gen to fix. They didn’t. They fixed it right away. And what they came up with was BRILLIANT! And they deserve a lot of credit for it.

Btw, GM’s ignition recall that caused the death of 169 people was over a $0.90 savings. So $30 a car is a shit ton of money. Pls remember that at the time Ford tooled Cuautitlán Assembly for 300,000 units on a 3 crew operation.

Lastly, if you really think molding is black magic, I’d love to take you on a tour of a steel mill. Or a stamping or body shop. That my friend is where witchcraft happens. Insane level of complexity. Disclaimer: I’m a metal melter, bender, and welder. So I’m clearly biased.

Note: my intent is not to argue, simply to clarify some aspects that I respectfully disagree with you on.

I am fine with you disagreeing with me. That’s how we learn and understand each others perspective. I have lived in boutique level production (5 unit’s a day) and I have lived in high volume production (10M units a day) and I have worked in various different industries. So these have been my thoughts and perspectives. Everyone is free to agree or disagree. and if I am wrong, I have no problem acknowledging that.

BTW, I’ve have been to sand casting and investment casting house. Stamping and sheet metals houses. I’ve worked with all sorts of welding houses And brazing shops And plating shops. They are all wizards in their processes. Also, , respectfully Casting people on the line are nuts. The heat, the smell, the overall danger…no thanks. Reminds me of when I went to a small casting house in China (2005?) and the guys carrying the molten metal were walking around in flip-flops. We turn around and walked out. Did not select them. And one of my last jobs I was working with a machining house In China. Or should I say city. 1 building with 2000 x 3-axis and 4-axis marching centers. Immaculate facility with quality that rivaled Apple/Foxconn. Everything on site. Even plating, painting and anodizing. That was a Medium sized facility according to the locals.

And sorry to say, yes we used a lot of overseas suppliers. Even after tariffs, they were cheaper, similar or same quality and shorter leadtimes (which means we could keep lower inventories). We tried to source domestically, but there was rarely a match.

i get it, the frunk design was bad. And then they fixed it. Even though the factory was tooled for 300k, it was only building 10% of that. That means low built up inventory And a lot of equipment down time so a change is easy. But in the end, it is just a frunk tub. No deaths. No recalls. Just fFord proving that they were changing the business model and reacting faster to market demands. Just like they said they would. Heck, maybe Ford did it on purpose.

the GM ignition switch was used in almost every major GM product world wide. The old switches took a lot of force to turn. So the new design was cheaper but also used less torque. unfortunately the design allowed too much variation and the weight of additional keys could shut the car off. They ended up recalling 30 million cars worldwide. It didn’t get recalled quickly because the engineers and the lawyer didn’t report the overall impact to the execs. Reports show that they knew. At least that is what was said in court.

Kind of sounds like Boeing‘s 737 disaster.

but this was all me going off down a Rabbit hole. Personally, I do not care how Monroe runs his business. He gets a vehicle, does a 100% tear down and shows everything bad and good in the deign In detail. And then he sells the report to the open public. the only way companies can stop him from releasing more info is to give work to him and get him to sign an NDA. Ford had to go onto his show and defend itself. That is some corporate blackmail if I ever saw it.

Fun discussion.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

The divider was required because there was no emergency escape mechanism fir a child, since babies don't often climb into cars on their own.

Fun fact, the Lightning frunk emergency button was easily bumped by things like golf clubs (frunk won't open while driving but it sets off a warning message), so Ford has to redesign it. People designed multiple covers, I printed one at my library.

To me, missing the issue entirely on the Mach-E was a major cluster. Someone should have been fired. Very sloppy. I swapped my 2021 frunk with my 2022 to keep the insert, I like it.

My cover is Lightning blue.

Ford solved the problem. They took the best frunk in the industry with a bad button design and location and canceled the entire truck.

They took this one seriously And acted on it.

Everyone needs to stop pointing out problems to them. We’ll lose our Mach-e.

 

[HuntingPudel]

The divider was required because there was no emergency escape mechanism for a child, since babies don't often climb into cars on their own.
<SNIP>

The mechanicals, button, and all of the electricals and electronics were there. The software was not there for the 2021 Job1 cars. Regulatory approval was pending when Job1 was in production. Ford got regulatory approval on their electronic release schema some time after Job 1 started and introduced the full package with 2021 Job2 (and provided a software update for Job1 cars).

 

[Neopifex]

Does anyone have any actual data on frunk usage?

Because if not, every post about how many people use their frunk is basically just speculation. No offense to the frunksters here, of course, but please just keep in mind one's own experiences do not necessarily reflect those of other owners.

Now, if I were to speculate on how Ford got to this point...

One can pretty safely assume Ford has frunk statistics (or as we in the industry* call them, frunktistics) via the data they gather from all of us. When they decided to put in the new heat pump that would take up more space, it seems likely to me (reminder: speculation!) that they looked at overall frusage, saw that not a lot of people bother using a small space that requires multiple manual pulls on an inconvenient lever to open, and decided it wouldn't be a big deal to make it both smaller and optional for a high fee.

The $500 price tag is because 1) it's Ford, and 2) they'd rather you just not get it. More room for them to build (or later, maintain) the car's innards makes those processes easer and cheaper, and the reduced volume of the frunk is probably just off-putting enough to convince most buyers to forego it, with only a small number that are willing to pay that ridiculous amount (just enough to make it worth offering).

You know what might be illuminating? A poll of forum members on how often they use their frunk. Is it possible to do that here? While I'd bet this forum's denizens would be slightly biased towards having the frunk when compared to non-enthusiast owners (i.e., not us), it would still be a pretty small percentage.

Q. How often do you use the frunk of your car?

1. Never/Rarely. I'm a frunk foregoer.
2. A few times a year. I'm only frunk-familiar.
3. A few times a month. I'm a frunk fortnighter.
4. A few times a week. I'm a frunk frequenter.
5. Every day! I'm a frunk fanatic! A frunatic!

Note: Replies to this comment with an answer for the above wouldn't be useful, as we're here specifically to talk about the topic (plus this really ought to be a more formal poll if we want useful data) but feel free anyway.


* the portmanteau industry

 

[Teslaeata]

When my eldest was still "optimally frunk-sized", it would've been an attractive option worth much more than $500 to me! My daughter went through a phase where she would cry whenever we drove anywhere at night. When she started getting more verbal, you could just make out "no yahtzit yites!" (baby-pidgin translation: "I don't like the street lights!!!") - thing is, she wasn't the type that could just "cry herself out" like any normal baby. Nope. She would cry until she puked, and then cry more, louder still, in an ever-ascending crescendo that was perfectly calibrated to ensure that the end our journey and the end of our wits "coalesced" into a single instant of bedlam in our driveway when I turned the engine off. Ideal candidate for a frunk-baby, if you ask me. Fortunately, she grew out of it and today, I very rarely feel the impulse to stuff anyone in my frunk!

Useful, that drain hole would’ve been, for the puke & tears

 

[Jiji]

Nice but why then make it an option for 2026, @Ford Motor Company?

I blame my wife.

She told Ford she never uses it. Either she forgets it is there or if she remembers she won't use it as she is concerned with getting the hood properly latched./s

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

They had a button but couldn’t get it to work.

The button as originally designed would have worked just fine, it was a regulatory compliance issue. Once the regulations changed the button was enabled and the dividers were deposited into the recycling bin of history.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

The button as originally designed would have worked just fine, it was a regulatory compliance issue. Once the regulations changed the button was enabled and the dividers were deposited into the recycling bin of history.

Ok, maybe I was too harsh. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Mark813]

Does anyone have any actual data on frunk usage?

Because if not, every post about how many people use their frunk is basically just speculation. No offense to the frunksters here, of course, but please just keep in mind one's own experiences do not necessarily reflect those of other owners.

Now, if I were to speculate on how Ford got to this point...

One can pretty safely assume Ford has frunk statistics (or as we in the industry* call them, frunktistics) via the data they gather from all of us. When they decided to put in the new heat pump that would take up more space, it seems likely to me (reminder: speculation!) that they looked at overall frusage, saw that not a lot of people bother using a small space that requires multiple manual pulls on an inconvenient lever to open, and decided it wouldn't be a big deal to make it both smaller and optional for a high fee.

The $500 price tag is because 1) it's Ford, and 2) they'd rather you just not get it. More room for them to build (or later, maintain) the car's innards makes those processes easer and cheaper, and the reduced volume of the frunk is probably just off-putting enough to convince most buyers to forego it, with only a small number that are willing to pay that ridiculous amount (just enough to make it worth offering).

You know what might be illuminating? A poll of forum members on how often they use their frunk. Is it possible to do that here? While I'd bet this forum's denizens would be slightly biased towards having the frunk when compared to non-enthusiast owners (i.e., not us), it would still be a pretty small percentage.

Q. How often do you use the frunk of your car?

1. Never/Rarely. I'm a frunk foregoer.
2. A few times a year. I'm only frunk-familiar.
3. A few times a month. I'm a frunk fortnighter.
4. A few times a week. I'm a frunk frequenter.
5. Every day! I'm a frunk fanatic! A frunatic!

Note: Replies to this comment with an answer for the above wouldn't be useful, as we're here specifically to talk about the topic (plus this really ought to be a more formal poll if we want useful data) but feel free anyway.


* the portmanteau industry

I assume with all the data collection and tracking that Ford knows when we put it in engage versus whisper and whether or not we open the frunk manually, on screen, or in app.


Interested a poll for Frunks but leave it open long term for people to wander in and also clarify 2024 and under vs 2025 and up.

Separately if the frunk was an easy dealer installed option would also make sense to some degree. So if I'm a frunk user I can buy the Frunk a year later and go get it installed when I get service and tires rotated.

Or you can negotiate at closing "hey throw in floor mats AND a free frunk and you've got a deal!"

 

[kens]

Does anyone have any actual data on frunk usage?

Because if not, every post about how many people use their frunk is basically just speculation. No offense to the frunksters here, of course, but please just keep in mind one's own experiences do not necessarily reflect those of other owners.

Now, if I were to speculate on how Ford got to this point...

One can pretty safely assume Ford has frunk statistics (or as we in the industry* call them, frunktistics) via the data they gather from all of us. When they decided to put in the new heat pump that would take up more space, it seems likely to me (reminder: speculation!) that they looked at overall frusage, saw that not a lot of people bother using a small space that requires multiple manual pulls on an inconvenient lever to open, and decided it wouldn't be a big deal to make it both smaller and optional for a high fee.

The $500 price tag is because 1) it's Ford, and 2) they'd rather you just not get it. More room for them to build (or later, maintain) the car's innards makes those processes easer and cheaper, and the reduced volume of the frunk is probably just off-putting enough to convince most buyers to forego it, with only a small number that are willing to pay that ridiculous amount (just enough to make it worth offering).

You know what might be illuminating? A poll of forum members on how often they use their frunk. Is it possible to do that here? While I'd bet this forum's denizens would be slightly biased towards having the frunk when compared to non-enthusiast owners (i.e., not us), it would still be a pretty small percentage.

Q. How often do you use the frunk of your car?

1. Never/Rarely. I'm a frunk foregoer.
2. A few times a year. I'm only frunk-familiar.
3. A few times a month. I'm a frunk fortnighter.
4. A few times a week. I'm a frunk frequenter.
5. Every day! I'm a frunk fanatic! A frunatic!

Note: Replies to this comment with an answer for the above wouldn't be useful, as we're here specifically to talk about the topic (plus this really ought to be a more formal poll if we want useful data) but feel free anyway.


* the portmanteau industry

Can we really safely assume Ford has accurate frunk statistics?

I don't doubt they know how often it is opened, but they would have no way to know if it's being used. I see all the time on here that people equate opening to usage, but that's a poor and inadequate assumption, and I assume it's the same assumption Ford would themselves make unfortunately.

I use my frunk daily, but rarely open it. Ford could say I'm a statistic that doesn't use their frunk, they couldn't be more wrong. I am however a statistic that plans to never buy a mustang that's lacking a usable frunk.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Ok, maybe I was too harsh. Thanks for the clarification.

I’m not going to bother digging through the depths of the forum to find a post I made 5 years ago or so, but it was discussed way back in the day of dinosaurs, Old English and Frunk 1.0. I did a bit of research and iirc the rules at the time required a direct physical connection (Electrical? Mechanical? ) between the emergency release and the hood release mechanism. The rules were being changed by an NPRM. Also, real countries like those in the EU didn't have such nonsense.

I’ve also been known to misremember, so …

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