The front trunk, otherwise known as the frunk, has been around so long, it’s old enough to have great-grandchildren. Frunks were just never very popular because they were reserved for mid- and rear-engine cars. With the advent of the electric vehicle, though, there’s no big engine taking up a ton of space, so it’s common for EVs to have both a regular trunk, as well as a frunk. The new Dodge Charger EV is no different, or at least that’s the case if you want one so badly that you’re willing to pay $4,995 for the privilege.
To be clear, Dodge isn’t selling the frunk as a standalone option that costs nearly $5,000. If that were the case, I’d probably be organizing a riot instead of simply writing a post about it. Instead, the frunk is included as part of the Plus Group, which also adds, among other things, a 16-inch infotainment screen, cooled faux leather seats, and LED headlights. The frunk is just part of the package.
Now, if you read closely, you would have already noticed this in our post on the new Charger’s pricing. We didn’t call it out at the time, but it’s the first time I’ve ever heard of a frunk being sold as an option. Granted, everything seems to be optional or sold as a subscription these days, so it’s not the most surprising thing in the world, but seriously? The frunk? According to Motor1, Audi also made the frunk optional on the Q6 E-Tron in Europe, but it’s not clear whether that will be the case when it arrives in the U.S.
At the same time, though, just how important of a feature is a frunk? I have yet to see any hard data, but based on several conversations I’ve had, frunks really aren’t all that popular. Apparently, even when EVs have them, most people just don’t use them. So if it costs extra to make room for a frunk in a car that already starts at $61,590, maybe it just makes sense for Dodge to offer it as an option. After all, why build the cost of something only a few people are going to use into the base price of a car that’s already significantly more expensive than its predecessor?
Also, as you can see from the video below (timestamped to when they open the hood), it’s not like the frunk is massive. Sure, you could put some groceries in there, but you probably wouldn’t. Then again, a couple of days ago, I walked past two women loading groceries into the frunk of their C8 Corvette, so maybe the people really do use their frunks. What do you think? Is this no big deal, or is it yet another instance of automakers charging for something that should just come standard?