It has been the favorite activity of owners and testers of a Tesla Cybertruck so far: chopping vegetables with the Frunk. Because shortly after the trucks were delivered it quickly became clear: the frunk lid, i.e. the front storage compartment flap, showed no mercy. If a cucumber, a carrot or, theoretically, a finger got lost between the lid and the frunk, there was a great risk that the sharp-edged stainless steel would make short work of it. Since this is a serious security problem, Tesla had to make improvements – and has now done so with an update. The description states that object detection has been improved shortly before the electric flap closes.
Of course, this had to be tried out immediately. The YouTuber Jeremy Judkins didn’t miss it and put the new flap to the test after installing the update. And lo and behold: Tesla has apparently readjusted things. First, Judkins showed how mercilessly the Cybertruck gripped before the update. Whether it was a carrot or a banana, whatever came between the flap and the storage space was either muddy or torn apart.
Shortly after, he ran the tests again with the update. The banana survived and the cucumber also remained undamaged. A thin, long carrot didn’t make it and was chopped up. Although the car clearly showed that not everything seems to be safe from the “finger guillotine”, the YouTuber now wanted to know. He put his arm between the lid and the frunk. Result: No problem, the flap didn’t squeeze him.
Then the hand followed. Also no problem for the updated pickup. That apparently created enough trust to put a finger in the wound. Will the Cybertruck maim or spare its owner? Neither nor. The flap didn’t close completely, the finger stayed on. But it took a while before Judkins was able to free the trapped finger. The bruise (and his pain) are clearly visible in the video.
A senior engineer at Tesla has an explanation for this. On trunk, which could also trigger the pinch detection then you could try to close it again, and again… just like in this video the algorithm assumes that the repeated attempt to close the trunk is due to. that you, the human, know better and believe it should close.”
Judkins also addresses this in his video: In fact, the truck increases power every time it closes – to follow the driver’s command. A reset occurs after every complete closure, he claims. But he doesn’t want to do another test with his finger. “You have no idea how painful it was the first time.” Despite the explanation, it’s not entirely clear to him why the truck is constantly increasing its power. “Personally, I think the algorithm should prioritize safety over a bag getting in the way, but that’s just my opinion,” he concludes.
