Ford Is Looking To One-up GM’s ‘Crab Walk’ Feature
Possibly taking cues from GM, Ford is developing its own version of the “Crab Walk” feature for its electrified trucks.
Written by Andrew Kidd
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Ford
is building upon one of its competitors’ strangest features according to patent documents submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.According to
The Drive
, Ford apparently saw enough value in GM’s “Crab Walk” feature that it took notice, with documents showing the automaker innovating on that feature
even more for its own off-road-capable trucks.What is ‘Crab Walk Mode’?
The GMC
Hummer EV
and the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV
offer a Crab Walk mode that lets the vehicle “scuttle” at an angle. The vehicles’ four-wheel steering capability enables them to turn all of their wheels in the same direction, letting the vehicles drive diagonally out of tight spaces like a parallel parking spot, or get around obstacles without resorting to a multi-point turn.GM also states that the interesting steering feature will help off-road, allowing the Hummer to navigate trails a little easier.
It’s probably better to see it in action:
MORE: What Is the Hummer EV 'Crab Walk' Feature?
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What Ford is doing different
Patent documents filed in September 2020 but just published in March of 2022 show illustrations of a Ford truck outfitted with four-wheel steering. Where it differs from GM’s offering, however, is its ability to drive left or right on a loose surface—like gravel or sand— without any forward or backward movement.
It would achieve this by turning the front and back wheels in opposite directions and driving the front and rear axles toward one another. As The Drive reports, it seems to be designed for Ford’s electric vehicles with dual-motor layouts driving the front and back wheels.
From a driver standpoint, it seems pretty simple to operate; when the driver activates the feature while stopped, the truck’s differentials lock and wheels turn, moving the truck left or right. What’s not clear in the patent documents, however, is what the driver would do to control the direction.
Decoupled steering
Another feature outlined in the patent document is independent steering for each wheel, uncoupling them from the steering wheel. According to the patent, this is meant to be a last-resort when stuck somewhere, giving the wheels more freedom of movement to jostle the truck free and get it back on the trail.
City use probably not recommended
The patent documents note that these features are intended for use on loose media like snow, sand, mud, ruts and such—typical of what you’d find in an off-road setting. This feature would be immensely helpful, as anyone who’s ever been stuck in sandy soil or on a snow-covered rural Midwest road in winter. It’s a great trade-off for going
gas-free
.Based on this alone, it means it might be unable to slide sideways out of a parallel parking spot—or evade a theoretical horde of crabs in your driveway, as GMC advertises.
But since Ford hasn’t yet published any official statement on this, it waits whether this feature would be enabled on the road—if it’s even adopted. If the automaker does pursue this technology, we’d likely see it on Raptor variants of its all-electric F-150 Lightning and other future Ford EVs.
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