Elon Musk says the first Tesla Cybertrucks will have 4 motors and be able to 'drive diagonally like a crab'

• Elon Musk is tweeting about the long-awaited Tesla Cybertruck again.
• The truck, he says, will first be available in a four-motor variant.

For a while now, Tesla has promised that its shiny, spaceship-like Cybertruck is just around the corner. But production delays haven't stopped Tesla CEO Elon Musk from teasing features of the future pickup truck.

On Friday, Musk tweeted that the first Cybertrucks built will come with four motors. When Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck in late 2019, it said the controversially-styled pickup would come with one, two, or three motors.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2021

"Initial production will be 4 motor variant, with independent, ultra fast response torque control of each wheel," Musk said. Using one motor to drive each wheel independently would enable the truck to better adjust the power sent to each corner, helping it tackle slippery or uneven terrain. The rugged Rivian R1T, currently the only electric pickup truck on the market, uses this kind of system with tremendous results.

Musk also said that, thanks to its four-motor setup, the Cybertruck will be able to turn like a tank. That's accomplished by running the wheels on one side of the vehicle faster than those on the other flank, or in the opposite direction. (Rivian also touts this as a feature of its pickup.)

The Cybertruck will also have rear-wheel steering and be able to "drive diagonally like a crab" by turning all four wheels in the same direction, he said. GMC's upcoming Hummer EV pickup promises the same capability, which it calls "Crab Walk."

Tesla seemed primed to shake up the Cybertruck's specs and pricing after it removed details about the truck from its website in October. During the pickup's splashy reveal event in 2019, Tesla said that the single-, dual-, and tri-motor variants would cost $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990, respectively. Pricing for the new quad-motor truck is unknown.

Tesla was the first automaker to unveil its plans for an electric pickup truck. But production delays mean it's playing catchup as other companies release — or prepare to release — their models into the wild. Rivian started selling the R1T in September, GMC plans to deliver the first Hummers this month, and Ford says it will start shipping the F-150 Lightning next spring.

Tesla aimed initially to start building the Cybertruck in 2021, but now it's pushed production to 2022.

Amid the delays, Musk has teased several features of the truck-to-be. He's said it won't have door handles and it will have removable side-view mirrors, presumably because cameras will serve the same function.