Tesla boss Elon Musk confirmed the company would be updating its highly anticipated Cybertruck with a quad-motor configuration, 4-wheel steering, and a 'crab walk' mode we've recently seen on rival EV trucks.

Tesla usually leads the charge (no pun intended) when it comes to electric vehicles, but they're playing catch-up this time around. Instead, the company is adding new features to its yet-to-be-released truck that other electric trucks already have.

Since being announced in 2019, Tesla's Cybertruck has faced several delays, with the latest news suggesting a very late 2022 arrival. That gave other manufacturers like Rivian and GM a chance to beat them to the market and show off exciting new features. In October, Tesla removed all Cybertruck specs and pricing from its website, suggesting changes were coming, and now they're here.

This week, Elon Musk confirmed its electric pickup truck would launch with some noteworthy features, including a 4-motor configuration instead of a tri-motor, along with a few other changes.

"Initial production will be a 4-motor variant, with independent, ultra-fast response torque control of each wheel." Then, when asked if the Cybertruck will have tank mode like the Rivian R1T Musk said, "Will have both front and rear wheel steer, so not just like a tank -- it can drive diagonally like a crab."

Essentially, the first Cybertruck's that get released will have one motor at each wheel instead of the $69,900 tri-motor setup the company mentioned back in 2019. For those wondering, both the Rivian R1T and GM's new Humer EV have quad-motor setups. The Rivian is available now, with GM's EV truck hitting the streets later this month.

Rivian has shown off its "tank turn" mode using 4-wheel steering for several years, and GM's Hummer EV takes that a step further with "crab walk," which you can see in action here. All four wheels can turn to the left or right, allowing the vehicle to move diagonally, which certainly has many use case scenarios. It's worth noting that Elon Musk suggested crab walk and 4-wheel steering back in July, so we knew this was coming.

As you can see, stiff competition from other EV manufacturers has Tesla copying GM's homework.

Who knows, by the time the Cybertruck arrives in late 2022 or early 2023, maybe Tesla will have to add even more features to match rival products. Either way, we'll have to wait and see what happens and if Tesla will increase the price from $69,900 to something higher due to these changes.

via Electrek