Do Not Stick Your Finger In a Closing Tesla Cybertruck Frunk

The Tesla Cybertruck comes with a lot of quirks, some of which are charming and some of which are alarming. Among the most concerning is the shape of the openings on the forward luggage compartment, or "frunk." The design lifts fully in one piece, leaving sharp edges along the side that have been known to cleave a carrot clean in two. Tesla recently updated the opening and closing software to make this mechanism safer, but it is still not a good idea to actually put your finger in there. Cybertruck owner Jeremy Judkins found this out the hard way.

In a video posted to Tesla boss Elon Musk's social media platform that is called X but still hosted at Twitter.com, Judkins explains the update to make the mechanism safer and shows how the device reacts to a few fruits and vegetables. The frunk still chops a carrot, but that was not enough to stop Judkins from testing the system on his own actual appendage.

As expected, the mechanism catches that Judkins has placed first his arm and then his hand in the opening and admirably stops itself from shutting further. This is a nice little safety feature and one that will actually make the truck more usable for buyers, but Cybertruck owners are here to test the extremes, so Judkins goes one step further: He puts his index finger in the opening and lets it close again. Not a pinky or a ring finger. The pointer finger.

Unfortunately for Judkins, the frunk simply shuts on his finger. It gets all the way down to the closed position before some wriggling convinces the sensors that something is lodged in there, forcing the hinge to re-open. Judkins thankfully escapes with little more than an indentation in his finger and an alarming twitch, but the truck failed this not-at-all important test.

Tesla, in case you were wondering, does go out of its way to advise buyers to avoid doing this. The Cybertruck owner's manual includes that sage advice under its "Powered Frunk" section, directly asking that buyers "ensure that all hands and other objects are free of the powered frunk before closing it."

Even with software designed to make the uniquely dangerous-looking mechanism safer, pinching a finger in a closing trunk or door is always a bad idea. The Cybertruck's odd and somewhat alarming design certainly highlights the problem, but the solution is always the same: Please keep your body well clear of any moving metal mechanism.

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