A lucky Tesla owner was able to get up close and personal with a Release Candidate (RC) Cybertruck over the weekend in San Francisco, giving us our closest look yet the rear-wheel steering of the electric pickup truck.
If you are unfamiliar, rear-wheel steering is a system that adjusts the angles of the rear wheels when the steering wheel is turned. While they don’t move at the same angle as the front wheels, they do move at the same time, either in the same or in the opposite direction, thereby improving the vehicle’s agility at both low or high speeds. Such a feature is particularly useful in larger vehicles, like the Cybertruck, allowing them to more easily maneuver in tight spaces.
We first learned the Cybertruck was going to come with rear-wheel steering nearly two years after it was first unveiled when Elon Musk announced the feature on X. We have since seen several videos of the rear-wheel steering in action, but they have all been from somewhat of a distance. Now we get to see it in action from the side repeater camera on a Model 3 from just a few feet away.
X user @xwilfredov came across a RC Cybertruck in San Francisco, and while stopped directly next to it, the Cybertruck begins to reverse. With only a glimpse of the Cybertruck in frame at first, the wheels move at such an angle that you might think you are looking at the front, but it isn’t until a few second later you realize you are actually looking at the rear wheels.
Cybertruck rear wheel steering in action — pretty cool to see it up close! — caught this just after — of all things the CT driver decided to dart in front of me. lol pic.twitter.com/FRGvo5m2BJ
— wilfredo (@xwilfredov) September 23, 2023
Since we don’t know the final specs of the Cybertruck, we don’t know for sure, but rumours suggest this rear-wheel steering will be a standard feature on all Cybertruck trims. As to which Cybertruck trim will launch first, we were expecting it to be the Long Range Dual Motor, but Musk last week revealed he had just tested the Performance Cybertruck, which we were expecting to be a tri motor configuration.
Hopefully we find out soon. Musk was hoping to hold the Cybertruck delivery event before the end of Q3, but with only days to go until then, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer.
