frunk: front trunk of an automobile (Tesla electric car)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Tesla Model S electric car does not have a motor in the front. The
space beneath the front hood is called the "frunk". The first citation
below suggests that someone at Tesla coined (or popularized) the term.
I have not attempted to locate the earliest instance. A quick search
at Wordspy, Barry Popik's website, and the ADS mailing list archive
revealed no matches.

Website:  FIVE THôT getthefive
Article: The Eye Candy
Author: David Allen Ibsen
Date: July 07, 2012
http://www.getthefive.com/articles/the-eye-candy/defining-the-frunk-tesla-names-the-front-trunk-in/

[Begin excerpt]
The folks at Tesla also decided to define another aspect of the
car—the front boot (trunk). You see, the front section of the car—what
has been called the abandoned engine bay, creates a front trunk space,
or front-trunk which Tesla calls the "frunk."
[End excerpt]


Website: The Oatmeal
Comic title: What it's like to own a Tesla Model S: A cartoonist's
review of his magical space car
Author: The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman)
Date: Not listed
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s

[Begin excerpt]
If you pop the hood, there's nothing inside. No engine. No gurgling
tubes. No sputtering oil. It's just a big empty space known as the
"frunk" (front tunk)
[End excerpt]

Garson

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