The conventional Ford Mustang is offered with a feature called "line lock" that applies just the front brakes, which allows the rear tires to spin while the car stays in place.
This can usually be achieved with a powerful rear-wheel-drive car by lightly holding the brake pedal while the rear wheels overcome their brakes, but the system makes it easier to do, both for fun and to warm the tires for better grip before making a run at the drag strip.
FORD COULD SAVE THE MUSTANG AND F-SERIES FROM GOING ALL-ELECTRIC WITH SYNTHETIC FUEL
The proposed system would disable the front motor and power the rear while the front brakes are applied. (Ford)
However, high performance electric vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E GT are typically all-wheel-drive and cannot do this, but Ford has developed a way that they can.
The Mustang Mach-E GT has 480 hp and 634 lb-ft of torque. (Ford)
Unlike an all-wheel-drive internal combustion engine car, which sends power from a single motor through a drivetrain, most all-wheel-drive electric cars have at least two electric motors, one for each axle, while some employ three or four.
The system could also operate in the opposite way, allowing for a front tire burnout. (Ford)
Ford's patent, titled "Electrified Vehicle Performance Mode With Intentional Wheel Spin for Tire Heating," features drawings of a Mustang Mach-E and describes programming that would create a line lock effect by disabling the front motor and applying the brakes on that end while turning off the traction control at the rear. It can also do it the other way around, allowing the front tires to spin instead.
The Mustang Mach-E GT is capable of running a 12.6-second quarter-mile. (Ford)
This could give the Mustang Mach-E an advantage in a drag race against other all-wheel-drive cars that cannot warm their tires, but would also put on quite a show in a parking lot.
Ford has not confirmed this feature is coming and as with many patents, there is no guarantee that it will ever be offered, but the company has a history of doing things like this just for fun.
The Mustang's line lock feature allows for standing burnouts. (Ford)
Along with the previous line lock, the new 2024 Mustang is getting an Electronic Drift Brake that is a handbrake only used to lock the rear tires for drifting and powersliding on a track. The handle and brakes release as soon as you let it go.
The all-wheel-drive Ford Focus RS hot hatchback sold from 2016 to 2018 also had a Drift Mode that sent more power to the rear wheels and loosened up the stability control and offered an optional Drift Stick similar to the Mustang's Electronic Drift Brake.