Ford may equip its EVs with a four-wheel-burnout mode

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Yes, we’ve heard the complaint over and over, including from inside Driving.ca office (and from out of my mouth): Ford butchered the name of its electric vehicle by calling it the “Mustang Mach-E.” (Why, oh, why wasn’t “Model E” used?) But let us say this: if it makes you feel any better, the automaker may be looking at putting new technology in drive to give its Mustang-branded electric vehicle very Mustang-like four-wheel burnout capabilities.

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We’re presuming that since, well, Ford recently sent the US Patent and Trademark Office a filing for an “Electrified vehicle performance mode with intentional wheel spin for tire heating,” reports CarBuzz, which uncovered the patent. Its rationale for this particular innovation? “Peelout and associated heating or smoking of the tires [would] improve traction and provide a visual display of power.”

The feasibility of this feature, functionally speaking, is high, as performance electric vehicles have two motors, one on each axle. Now, the two ends’ burnout won’t be simultaneous, as the patent specifies there’d be a slight delay from when the rear wheels stop spinning to when the front ones start. But I presume it’ll hardly be noticeable with all the smoke surrounding the tires.

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If the Mach-E follows its Mustang namesake in offering a wide array of trims as it gets on it years, you can expect there to be several performance variants of the electric crossover, the type of car this mode’d be perfect for. [Of course, Ford may have another vehicle in mind for this feature and simply used the Mach-E in its patent illustrations as a placeholder. —Ed.]

Can you imagine the immediate speed off the line when an instant-torque EV is gifted that extra bit of tire grip after a smoky burnout? It can’t hurt that the feature also lets people know how powerful its performance offerings are. That’s something we figure Ford is keen on, seeing as it just equipped its all-new 2024 Mustang with a way for owners to rev their engine from a distance, via their key fob.