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Tesla Model S Front Trunk (Frunk) Electric Cooler Review

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Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler


Now that Tesla Motors has officially demonstrated to the world that long distance and even cross-country travel in a Tesla is easily attainable – annihilating the age-old lexicon “EV range anxiety” from everyone’s vocabulary – we thought it might be appropriate to review a product that would maintain the quality of perishables during these extended road trips.

We were on a mission to find a container that would be lightweight, portable and provides thermoelectric cooling / heating capabilities and came across the Koolatron Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler.

Koolatron 26-Quart Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler

Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler OrganizerWhat we really liked about the Koolatron is that it’s designed with the everyday traveler in mind. The thermoelectric cooler has a generous 26-quart capacity and outfitted with several compartments, most of which are secured through zippered pockets.

We found that the ergonomics of the soft-sided design combined with the detachable shoulder strap makes it more comfortable to lug around than your traditional hard-sided cooler.

Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler Organizer

A 12V electric fan is attached to the thick thermo lining and together they ensure that the contents of the cooler are kept at optimal temperatures while you’re on the go.

Product Specifications

  • Soft-sided thermoelectric travel cooler with 12V, cigarette-lighter car adapter
  • Detachable shoulder strap
  • Bungee cord holds extra items to the lid of the cooler
  • External zippered pockets for storage
  • Mesh interior pocket
  • 2 external beverage holders
  • Cell phone pocket
  • Holds 26 quarts or up to 34 12-ounce cans
  • Cord pocket keeps the 12V cord out of the way when you’re on the move
  • Keeps food and drinks 30°F  below ambient temperatures
  • Measures 9 by 17.5 by 15 inches; weighs 7 pounds

How does it fit within the Tesla Model S?

The first thing to note is that the Koolatron Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler is a good-sized cooler measuring in at 17.5 inches tall. It’s definitely not the smallest of coolers, but small enough that it can still be carried around without much effort.  It’s perfect if you’re looking to take a family of four on an extended Supercharged road trip.

Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler Organizer

Its 26-quart capacity can easily accommodate a full set of plastic ware and beverage containers.

Despite its tall dimension, the travel cooler fits perfectly within the Tesla Model S front trunk (Frunk), Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler Organizer
when positioned onto its side, which further validates how great the Model S is when it comes to storage capacity (more on that in a separate article to come). The bungee cords on the top lid can be extended outwards and used as a means to secure the cooler from movement during travel.

Editors’ note: The Tesla Model S front trunk cargo net may provide better security in the event of emergency braking.

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One notable feature of the Koolatron Electric Travel Cooler is that that it’s soft-sided which makes it easy to transport and secure within tight spaces. This is especially the case when fitting the cooler within the interior of the Model S.

The cooler can be placed onto the empty center channel floor once the external beverage holders are folded down. Keeping the cooler between the two front seats means that there’s no lateral movement while the car’s in motion, kept away from children, and also adds an element of convenient when trying to dine-in-car (à la Bjorn Nyland).

Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler OrganizerThe Koolatron Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler fits snugly between the arm rest assembly and touchscreen.

Tip: Those with the optional CCI can either place the cooler on top or along the floor of the 2nd row seating.


How does the electric cooler work?

As its name implies, the Koolatron 26-Quart Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler is made for travel and not meant to be used as a refrigerator or toaster oven. The electric fan is great for extracting warm air from within, but we found that bringing contents from room temperature to 30°F below ambient temperatures, as marketed, could be a lofty goal.  That being said, it’s great at maintaining temperature and contents that are pre-chilled remain chilled for a long time while the cooler is plugged in.

Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler Organizer Tesla Model S Front Trunk Electric Cooler Organizer

The cooler comes standard with a 12V cigarette-lighter adapter which plugs directly into the Model S center console assembly.  Reversing the orientation of the cable from blue to red will enable the heating capabilities of the travel cooler, making it convenient to keep foods warm.

An 110V adapter can be purchased separately, but it would have been nice if Koolatron bundled this accessory together as it felt a bit incomplete and less extensible without it.


Conclusion

The Koolatron 26-Quart Soft-Sided Electric Travel Cooler fits perfectly within the Tesla Model S front trunk and is a convenient way to keep your favorite snacks, drinks and meals cool or warm during your next Tesla Supercharged road trip. 

Its large 26-quart capacity along with its multiple external pockets provides easy access to your belongings while on the move and all for a moderate price of $129.97.

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[box type=”bio”]TESLARATI provides impartial reviews and is in no way paid by the vendor for the content that is produced.

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Elon Musk

How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts

Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.

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Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.

The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.



Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.

For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.

The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.

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Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi’s real advantage won’t be the ride service

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.

Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.

Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.

Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant

Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.

This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?

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If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.

What do you think? Leave me a comment.

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Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade

Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.

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Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)
Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.

The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”

The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.

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It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.

The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.

For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.

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