2025 Chevy Silverado EV Gets a New Trick: Sidewinder Mode

This feature enables all four wheels to turn in the same direction for diagonal movement, like GMC's CrabWalk

2025 Chevy Silverado EV Sidewinder mode
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  • Chevrolet announced a new Sidewinder feature for the 2025 Silverado EV truck.
  • This feature enables all four wheels to turn in the same direction for diagonal movement.
  • Sidewinder mode is standard on the top-trim Silverado EV RST.

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV shares its electric powertrain with the GMC Hummer EV, and today, General Motors announced another common feature between these two vehicles: diagonal driving. Chevrolet calls it Sidewinder mode and GMC calls it CrabWalk. No matter what you call it, this is a nifty little feature.

At speeds up to 20 mph, Sidewinder mode allows the driver to turn all four of the Silverado's wheels in the same direction and move at an angle. GMC showed this off on the Hummer EV with copious amounts of commercials and videos, and it was quite a novelty when first released. It’s not as flashy as a follow-up in the Chevy, but it's still useful in certain situations. This amenity is standard on the top-trim Silverado EV RST.

The idea is to use Sidewinder mode to skirt obstacles on the trail and to navigate tight corners, and it can be used to squeeze into tight parking spaces. To activate in the all-electric Silverado, from inside the cabin of the truck you’ll need to press Controls, then Rear Steering, then Sidewinder Mode from the infotainment touchscreen.

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2025 Chevy Silverado EV Sidewinder mode

In case you’re convinced that CrabWalk/Sidewinder is just a party trick, a poster on the forum HummerChat begs to differ. The Hummer EV owner found it useful when dropping someone off at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

“There were four rows deep of cars dropping people off; it is always a waiting game trying to get through it to make the drop off,” user Littleshopofguitars said in the forum. “By using CrabWalk, I was able to slide in at an angle, right through all four rows of cars!”

2024 Chevy Silverado EV owners shouldn't have FOMO either. Sidewinder mode will also be pushed to 2024 First Edition RSTs via an over-the-air update in early 2025 for trucks already purchased or on dealer lots. 

Kristin Shawby

Kristin Shaw has worked in the automotive industry as a freelance writer since 2012. Her first review was about a Ferrari F430, which is a great place to start for a lifelong enthusiast. She has tested and reviewed hundreds of vehicles over the past decade, and some of her favorites include the C2 and C8 Corvette, Lamborghini Aventador S, BMW X5 and Toyota GR86. Her dream car is a restomod 1957 Chevy Bel Air in turquoise. She's competing in her first Rebelle Rally, an all-female off-roading competition, in the fall of 2022 in a lifted Hyundai Santa Cruz. Her work has also been seen in The Drive, AutoWise, GearJunkie, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes Wheels, Today, The Washington Post and more.

Steven Ewingedited by

Steven Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. In that time, he's written thousands of articles and tested just as many vehicles. Steven is Edmunds' director of editorial content and has previously been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. Steven has also contributed to Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and dozens of other publications. In his spare time, Steven loves to play the drums, cook, and drive his 1999 BMW M Roadster to local punk shows.

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