The Tesla steering yoke is now a $250 possibility for the Mannequin S and Mannequin X, marking a change of path for the automaker.
The yoke was introduced in January 2021 as a part of a refresh of the Mannequin S and Mannequin X, Tesla’s two oldest fashions. The autos additionally obtained a Mannequin 3-like horizontal touchscreen and the addition of Plaid efficiency fashions. The yoke started rolling out in manufacturing vehicles the next June as a compulsory function, to blended opinions.
2023 Tesla Mannequin S – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Tesla introduced again the steering wheel possibility in January 2023. The traditional spherical wheel was initially reintroduced as a no-cost possibility, and shortly grew to become the default on Tesla’s on-line configurator. Now, any buyer who needs the yoke must pay additional for it.
It does not seem this was Tesla’s authentic plan. In July 2021, CEO Elon Musk was requested on Twitter (essentially the most direct strategy to get details about Tesla as a result of the automaker not has a public relations division) if there was any likelihood of a standard steering wheel possibility. Musk responded with a simple “no.”
Elon Musk denies plans for a steering wheel possibility alongside Tesla yoke in July 2021 tweet
Since Tesla launched its steering yoke, different automakers have additionally taken up the thought, however with considerably completely different approaches. BMW utilized for a yoke steering wheel patent in 2022. The design, which included fold-away grips, frees up more room, the automaker mentioned in a patent utility. BMW hasn’t mentioned plans to make use of this design in a manufacturing automobile, nonetheless.
Lexus has truly taken that leap, including a yoke to its RZ 450e electrical crossover. Lexus’ model was designed to be used with a variable-ratio steer-by-wire system, which labored fairly nicely in a prototype drive. However Lexus has no timeline for bringing its yoke and steer-by-wire system to the U.S. market.