Tesla Improves Cybertruck's Anti-Pinch Protection, It Even Reacts to a Banana

People expect to find a lot of convenience features on their expensive vehicles. In time, this expanded from powered antennas and windows to, recently, powered liftgates, soft-close doors, and all sorts of automation. Simply touching a button on the remote is not enough to lure buyers, as people love opening the trunk by waving their foot under the rear spoiler. However, as these features became more common, carmakers had to design protection systems to prevent people from losing limbs.

We're all used to the anti-pinch protection on power windows, which saved many children their fingers. However, other moving body panels remain dangerous. There's little carmakers can do for soft-close doors, for instance, given the limited travel of such systems. The situation is better with powered liftgates and, in the case of electric vehicles, powered frunks. However, not all EVs are equal, and the Cybertruck's frunk has been exposed as being a danger to children's fingers.

People wasted mountains of carrots to prove that the Cybertruck's frunk was dangerous. The "carrot test," as it became known, revealed an important weakness: Tesla did not use optical anti-pinch sensors. Ironically, the "vision-only" carmaker has relied on a resistance sensor within the frunk motor instead. This provides limited protection, mostly when an object is placed on the front side of the frunk. One Cybertruck owner bet his fingers and almost lost them after putting his hand on the side of the frunk.

This caused disputes on social media between Tesla fans who claimed it was a nothingburger and people who were genuinely concerned about the safety of their offspring. Thankfully, this was also how Tesla engineers became aware of the issue and started working on a fix. At the end of March, Wes Morrill, Tesla Cybertruck lead engineer, promised a big improvement in an upcoming over-the-air update. "Team worked super hard on this. So many carrots," wrote Wes on X.

The fix came to the Cybertruck fleet via the Spring update (2024.14.3) alongside many optimizations and new features. The release notes are not very descriptive, only writing that the powered frunk can now detect obstructions just before it finishes closing. A test done by the folks at Top Gear reveals that the carrot is no longer relevant. Instead, they tested using a banana, showing how the frunk reacts swiftly even with such soft objects.

The test (at 02:10 in the video below) also offered a preview of some prototype Cybertruck accessories, including a Cybercooler with a stainless steel front. The cooler matches the Cybertruck design and fits perfectly in the frunk, making perfect use of the limited space Tesla provided (at least compared to other electric pickups). It's unclear when the new accessories will become available in the Tesla Shop.