After Tesla announced the new “yoke” butterfly steering wheel for its new models, people got curious whether the standard steering wheel option was still available; Elon Musk made sure to clarify any confusion with a simple yet effective “No” on Twitter.
No
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2021
The wheel has a standard 14.0:1 steering ratio, but after some road testing has been proving to be impractical at lower speeds. CEO Elon Musk later confirmed that Tesla is working on progressive steering, but it is not for the near future.
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While the steering does have a more appealing look and style (as per popular opinion not shared by traditionalists) while offering better road visibility due to its design, it is not ideal for low speeds and for quick maneuvers in case of slipping.
As someone who has been driving on icy roads all of my life (Quebec born and bred), I can see it be a real problem for some maneuvers to regain controls in some slips. pic.twitter.com/ybJ5DOKRjJ
— Fred Lambert (@FredericLambert) June 15, 2021
The wheel does, however, come with a multitude of functions. The buttons on the 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid’s yoke replace all typical steering-column-mounted stalks.
On the left side of the Tesla’s yoke are individual left and right turn-signal buttons; tapping one of them flashes the signal once (though if you hold your finger on the button with a light press for longer, the signal will continue flashing), and pressing harder turns the signal on completely. Pressing again turns it off, and the signal buttons are very easy to get used to.
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A headlight button resides above the turn-signal controls. Tapping or pressing it flashes the brights and pops up a menu on the center infotainment screen, which can be tapped to select a light setting.
The windshield-wiper button on the opposite side of the yoke: tap once for one wiper swipe, tap and hold to spray and clean the windshield, or tap and use the left scroll wheel for cycling through wiper settings.