Ford Patents System For Driverless Engine Revs

There is real joy in experiencing the sound of a raucous exhaust note. Unfortunately for all the drivers out there, cars sound quite different depending on whether you’re actually inside or not. Ford filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that might just solve this problem: a remote-controlled system for revving your engine.

The patent, published by the USPTO on May 5th, was initially filed back in November. The filing is incredibly detailed relative to other automotive patents, with pages worth of text describing the system’s intended functions. According to the documents, owners will be able to send a command to their vehicle via a controller of some kind, be that your phone, your key fob, or even voice commands. This command is then processed by the vehicle’s body control module, before a request is passed along to the powertrain control module. The PCM then manipulates the engine to produce sounds as desired. Owners can reportedly ask the car to rev the engine in accordance with a number of different parameters, including up to a specific engine speed, in a specific pattern, or with a different tone than normal.

The documents filed with the patent feature a drawing of the Ford Mustang, which isn’t all that surprising. You’d expect Mustang owners to beg for a way to rev it when they're not in it. That said, Ford doesn’t intend to limit this system to gas engines. The filing notes that the system could indeed be utilized by an EV, specifically with the intention of increasing customer interest among the more traditional enthusiast crowd. Customers would be able to utilize the EV’s speaker system to simulate revs from a number of different real and fictional powertrains, even including flux capacitor.