- A YouTuber tested if Tesla’s Cybertruck update makes the frunk safer by closing it on his finger.
- The frunk update worked well on produce, but crushed his finger and left it shaking with a dent.
- A Tesla engineer said the test was done wrong because the frunk increases in pressure every time.
Tesla released an update to make the Tesla Cybertruck frunk safer when it closes.
So YouTuber Jeremy Judkins tested out whether the update actually makes the frunk safer by closing the frunk on a carrot, cucumber, banana — and eventually his finger.
The recent update is supposed to better detect obstructions before the frunk finishes closing and follows a series of viral videos of the frunk slicing through carrots while closing.
The YouTuber started the video by closing the frunk on produce like a carrot, cucumber, and banana before the update was installed. The frunk chopped all of the produce when it was placed in the frunk.
“It is destroying everything,” the YouTuber said.
The YouTuber then tried the same test with the update installed and was impressed with the improvement.
“With just a software update, the Tesla Cybertruck frunk is way safer,” he said. “We witnessed it destroy a ton of vegetables, and then post-update did nothing.”
But when Judkins tried putting a thin tip of a carrot in the frunk, it did break off. He said that left people wondering if a fingertip would also come off if it got caught in the frunk.
Judkins then closed the frunk on his arm, which he said put a little pressure on it but wasn’t too bad. Next, he tried out his hand, which left a line, but also wasn’t severe.
Finally, Judkins placed his finger in the frunk. The frunk closed on his finger and left it shaking, with a dent, and what looked like a small cut or skin tear.
“It kind of locked down on it and I was a little freaked out because I didn’t know how to open it up,” Judkins said. “I was kind of trapped.”
The YouTuber said the frunk detected resistance for a little bit and opened.
Judkins said that after the finger test, a lead cybertruck engineer at Tesla said he did the video wrong.
The engineer told him the frunk increases in pressure every single time it closes and detects resistance, Judkins said. It’s going to assume you want to close the frunk and maybe something like a bag is getting in the way, which would make it close harder.
“Using this information, that means it closed on my finger harder than my hand and way harder than my arm,” the YouTuber wrote.
Judkins said the algorithm should favor safety instead of a bag getting in the way. But even when Judkins put a bag in the way of closing the frunk, it still closed, which meant it didn’t quite respond to resistance the way it should have.
The YouTuber attempted to try the test again with his finger without trying other objects or his arm first but backed away every time the frunk was about to close.
“You don’t know how bad it hurt the first time,” Judkins said. “I don’t want to do it again.”
Judkins said the update might make your banana safe, but fingers aren’t quite in the clear.