Cybertruck Unveils Steered Rear Axle: Driving into the Future

We've been patiently waiting for the final design and development of the Tesla Cybertruck for years now. What seems like the longest chapter in the company's history will soon see the light: Elon Musk, as well as other authorized voices from within the company, have officially stated that this year the electric pick-up will enter the production and marketing phase. The official presentation and launch should take place in the coming months, but more and more details are revealed: the latest being its directional rear axle, which clearly shows the Cybertruck driving indoors and gracefully maneuvering at a parking lot, thanks to a video posted on Twitter.

Everyone expects great things from the Cybertruck: the company's biggest and most iconic model (save for the Tesla Semi, as regarding size) has promised and announced so many amazing new features that expectations are really running high. The development has in fact taken years and years of hard work due to the many difficulties that have arisen along the way. Weight and size are two major drawbacks, and to reduce their negative impact, Tesla engineers have turned to an increasingly common resource in the industry; the rear axle with turning capacity.

Although this technology was released in street cars back in the 90s, it is very common to find it in long and large vehicles such as buses, industrial machinery or trucks. At low speeds, the rear wheels move opposite the front wheels in order to reduce the turning radius significantly, while at high speeds the turn is synchronized to improve dynamics. In the short video on Twitter, it can be seen that despite the large size of the Cybertruck, it moves quite well between columns in the parking lot.

The video also serves to reconfirm the presence of a skid plate and air intakes embedded in the chassis of the vehicle; it almost looks like a 4WD off-roader from some angles, which is something that the company has already demonstrated on some occasions, in both an off-road environment and in the most urban and civilized interiors possible.

Musk himself has commented on more than one occasion that the electric pick-up will not be easy to build due to the complex technical framework behind it. Every little detail has been taken care of, such as the side mirrors: Tesla will offer the possibility of incorporating digital side mirrors with cameras or conventional triangular-shaped mirrors to fit in with the rest of the angular body style. The latest Cybertruck test prototypes continue to drive around different scenarios in the United States, taking into account and eventually adding up every single detail that the engineers find valuable.

4 wheel steering Cybertruck is sick! pic.twitter.com/WAlCTIBxWi— Tokyotesla (@Tokyotesla1) February 4, 2023

Tesla Cybertruck's bed floor has been another highly commented topic among the possible alternatives that Tesla is considering to include. On many occasions we have seen the rear space completely open, although we now know that the company will offer various closing solutions for the cargo area, ranging from a highly resistant textile canvas to a rigid roll-up cover. Another feature that has drawn a lot of attention is the ability to self-repair the body-chassis: by using highly resistant and polished steel, the users themselves will be able to eliminate scratches on the chassis with a simple polishing.

The Tesla Cybertruck is simply the most anticipated electric pickup on the market, and yet another example of Tesla's technology leadership in the electric motoring industry. We are in the final stretch before the highest anticipated and expected event of the year at the Austin company; we can be sure that until then, more secrets and surprises will be revealed.

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.