Ford has filed a patent application for a burnout mode for electric vehicles that would allow an electric vehicle to emit smoke to the front tires, the rear tires, or all four tires.
Ford’s application, originally filed on August 30, 2021 and published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on March 2 and first spotted by CarBuzz, is an “electric vehicle performance mode with intentional wheel spin to heat the tire” .
Ford EV burnout mode patent image
In the filing, Ford discusses braking one axle while applying power to the other to spin the tires to “provide stripping and associated tire heating or smoking to improve traction and provide a visual indication of power.” In other words In other words, burnout.
Using the brakes to hold the car in place while turning the wheels sounds similar to the wire-lock feature previously seen on Ford Mustangs, but for all-wheel-drive electric vehicles, where electric motors power both axles. That means Burnout Mode can be used with either the front or rear wheels. The accompanying sketches show clouds of smoke rolling off each set of wheels. The car pictured is a Ford Mustang Mach-E, but that doesn’t mean the feature is destined for that model, as Ford has yet to confirm a burnout mode for production.
Ford EV burnout mode patent image
The application also mentions the “sequential operation of first rotating the tires on the first axle and then the tires on the second axle” could result in a four-wheel burnout. According to the application, this will be activated by “specific operations on the brake and accelerator pedals”.
Ford is trying to demonstrate the blockbuster potential of electric vehicles with the Mustang Mach-E 1400, which can easily spin all four tires thanks to seven electric motors producing 1,400 horsepower. It’s unlikely that this powertrain will end up in a road car, but this burnout mode seems like a more logical way to enhance the enjoyment of an EV that customers actually buy.