Your Tesla Frunk offers extra storage capacity for you to hold items securely, away from the passenger cabin, and separate from the main trunk or cargo area. You can use it to carry takeout, groceries, drinks and so on.
It can be very frustrating when your frunk does not open. You can read about some issues with the frunk refusing to open below and see possible fixes.
How to Open Tesla Frunk
Before you concluding that your Tesla frunk isn’t opening from the screen, here are steps to open it.
To open it, press the interior release button to unlatch the front trunk, then push up on the hood. The interior release button glows following a brief exposure to ambient light.
Why is my Tesla Frunk Not Opening?
Have you tried opening your Frunk from the console but no matter how hard you try it does not open screen.
1. There could be a restriction on one or more of the driver profiles
The frunk won’t open from the screen sometimes when a driver has a Driver Door Unlock setting checked on. Check if any of your driver profiles has this Driver Door Unlock feature on.
To adjust Model S based on a driver’s profile, touch the driver profile icon at the top of the touchscreen. Then choose the driver, and Model S is adjusted based on the settings that have been saved to the chosen driver profile.
If the Driver Door Unlock is ON in any profile change it
Fix 1 – Try locking and then unlocking from the screen, then try the frunk from the screen again and it should open.
2. Your electric vehicle has not sensed that you are parked
Your Tesla has not detected that you are in Park Mode
Fix 1 – After you put it in park, and press the text it should open. If it doesn’t open, press the park button again and try to open the frunk. It should work.
Note that you are supposed to be pressing on the text and not the image of the frunk displayed on your touchscreen.
2. If your console is not opening the frunk try opening using other methods.
To open the front trunk, ensure Model S is in Park, and then touch Controls and Select Front Trunk on the touchscreen.
If that does not work use one of the following methods to open frunk.
Fix 1 – Double-tap the front trunk button on the key fob.
Fix 2 – Click on the front trunk button in the mobile app.
Once frunk is open pull the hood open.
3. Your Tesla has not sensed that you have unlocked the car
You electric car may have a problem recognizing that the car is unlocked.
Since the frunk will only open when the car is unlocked, a car that cannot track that have you unlock it, will also have a problem opening the frunk.
Fix 1 – Park the car, lock and unlock the car several times then press the text on touchscreen until the frunk opens twice.
Have you tried to open your frunk from the touchscreen it doesn’t open, but opens just fine when you use your phone. How can you fix to this?
4. The touchscreen is the problem
The lock icon may not be responding may be unresponsive to the frun
Fix 1 – It may need refreshing. To open it just tap the lock icon to lock everything and tap it again to open everything. This refresh action should make the frunk button work again.
Fix 2 – Try to restart your screen by holding down both steering wheel buttons until the Tesla logo turns on.
Fix 3 – Restart your charging by unplugging and then plugging in vehicle
Fix 4 – Touch the screen lightly. Be gentle. Touch the ‘Open’ text quickly. Do not press on it
This should open Frunk
Do you have a Model Y frunk that won’t open fully? The frunk pops open but you find yourself unable to pull it open as you normally would. It pops open and you can put your fingers under it but you can’t pull the hood up.
Fix 1 – After the first pop sound, use the app to open frunk while pulling the hood up.
5. Your frunk loop may have refused to open due to cold, ice, or moisture in winter conditions.
How cold is it where you live or park your car? Did you recently have your car washed during a cold day? Ice forms a small bump on the frunk loop and makes it hard to open
Fix 1 – Turned on the heat in the garage and wait half an hour or more for frunk loop to thaw out.
Fix 2 – When washing your Tesla in freezing conditions open all doors, windows and the frunk and ensure wipe them down with a towel.
Fix 3 – If your garage is not heated hold up the frunk as far as it’ll go and use a hair blow drier to get some warm air along the frunk gap or just go to a mall with a heated garage and in a couple of days your frunk will be able to open again.
Fix 4 – Make a mobile service appointment in the app for Tesla to fix it.
6. The latches are stuck
Tesla has two latches and one or both of them can get stuck. The hood catch has a double release for safety. If one or both catches don’t release with the fob, there are two manual cables in the right and left front wheel wells that can open the hood.
Fix – Try a manual release for one or both latches by tugging on the manual cables or releasing latch through the gap to trigger the releases.
The process goes like this:
- Remove the covering on the wheel wells
- Loosen the clips on the covering using a soft tool
- Tug the manual cables(pulls) on each wheel well to pop open the releases (latches)
or
- Put your fingers in the gap between the hood cover and the frunk
- Touch inside and feel for a rounded surface (the second latch)
- push the latch gingerly to the left side
These manual releases will open your frunk.
7. Your frunk could have a defective actuator
If you have tried every fix and your frunk is still not opening then take your car to the service center for an actuator replacement. This is free under warranty.
This is a known issue for early Model 3s and can also happen in other models including Y, S and X.
Fix 1 – Call Mobile service and request an actuator replacement and they can fix it in half an hour or forty-five minutes tops.
Have you encountered this issue. Your frunk won’t open, you hear the latch move but there is no movement on the frunk. The latch makes the release noise but does not pop.
Fix 2 – Physically release manual cables by triggering them with a simple fishing tool
Fix 3 – Try gently pressing down on the frunk while unlocking it. I
Fix 4 – Gently help frunk pop up while unlocking by using a soft trim removal tool or a suction cup.
Is your trunk stuck shut and does not pop? The hood is flush with the bumper and you can hear the actuator trying. Car shows no warnings and drives fine.
Fix 5 – Try the method described the owner’s manual under ‘Opening the hood with no power’.
If your Model X has no or low voltage power, you cannot open the front trunk using the touchscreen, key fob, or mobile app.
- Make sure your Model X is unlocked.
- Find an alternate low voltage power supply (such as a portable jump starter).
- Insert a small, flat screwdriver into the top and bottom slots, release the snaps and pull the cover towards you to remove the tow eye cover
- expose both terminals by pulling on the two wires out of the tow eye opening
- Connect the low voltage power supply’s red positive (+) cable to the red positive (+) terminal.
- Connect the low voltage power supply’s black negative (-) cable to the black negative (-) terminal.
- Turn on the external power supply as per the manufacturer’s instructions.
The hood latches are immediately released and you can now open the hood to access the front trunk area. You can now open it by hand
8. Disconnect both cables, beginning with the black negative (-) cable.
If the actuator is not popping the latch and it just stays flush. The release cable it uses on the latch could be broken. The hood stays in a locked state even though the touchscreen indicates that it is open.
Fix 1 – Try manually operate the latch.
Fix 2 – Open the frunk from phone app and then use a suction cup to physically pull up on the frunk as the actuator tries to function
Fix 3 – you can Wd40 the latch as it penetrates stuck parts and lubricates surfaces. Find it here and choose your desired amount.
Fix 4 – Look for any gaps everywhere even between the panels towards the nose or the fenders where you can fit something under the frunk lid to be able to pull up on it.
Try using a metal “L” bracket wrapped in electrical tape or two and try to pull the latch up wherever you have enough clearance.
Once it’s open, look for obstructions.
Fix 5 – try working some fishing line down under the frunk to give you some kind of lift. Have a partner activate the release while lifting lightly.
Fix 6 – If the six fixes fail then your actuator is faulty, and you might be looking a trip to the dealer, a call to the locksmith or a service visit to Tesla
Now you know that your frunk is refusing to open due to: a checked Driver Door Unlock setting on a Driver Profile; your Tesla failing to register that you are parked; trying only one unlocking method; your Tesla not detecting that it unlocked; a problematic touchscreen; cold, wet weather; stuck latch/es; and/or a defective actuator you can use the fixes listed here to help get your frunk open.