Tesla Cybertruck May Be 'Crab Walking' In New Drone Video

Perhaps this is another detail that Tesla isn't willing to reveal yet.

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Nov 1, 2023 at 6:35pm ET

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A surprising video has emerged today, presenting something that was not officially announced - a crab walking Tesla Cybertruck.

Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer / X), who is regularly covering progress at the Tesla Giga Texas factory in detail, recently came across a Tesla Cybertruck undergoing what appears to be some kind of test.

The vehicle was stopped for a while (possibly to prepare driving settings or to select a driving mode) and then started to slowly drive in a diagonal direction. Tegtmeyer and other speculate this could be similar to what's called a crab walk by General Motors, which utilizes the rear-wheel steering in the GMC Hummer EV Pickup/SUV to increase maneuverability (or maybe just for fun.)

Now, it turns out that the Tesla Cybertruck may also be capable of some crab walking. After all, it has rear-wheel steering too, so it's just a software mode that's needed to make it work.

Tegtmeyer wrote that more on the crab walk/drive and other Giga Texas-related things will be included in a forthcoming full-length YouTube video (we will update the story with the video once it becomes available.)

Some comments below the video are a bit skeptical, and suggest that maybe there was an issue with the steering. At this point, we can't exclude anything.

What do you think?

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There is a big chance that Tesla will try to introduce some features originally announced or implemented in other all-electric pickups.

An even bigger question is whether we will see something like the Tank Turn anticipated for Rivian EVs that was later ditched due to potential safety issues. A Mercedes-Benz EQG prototype demonstrated Tank Turn and the BYD Yangwang U8 can do it as well. These vehicles are equipped with four motors (one per wheel), but with three motors in the Cybertruck (two in the rear), and a bit of braking, it could be still possible.