Tesla has re-introduced the round steering wheel for its design refresh Model S and Model X vehicles. The new Tesla Model S was launched in 2021 with a Yoke steering wheel and a re-designed interior.
At the time, the yoke was the default and only option for a steering wheel when anyone bought a new Tesla Model S or Model S Plaid.
On multiple occasions, Tesla CEO Elon Musk iterated the usefulness and practicality of the yoke and that the automaker does not intend to bring back the round steering wheel.
“After using yoke for few weeks, I didn’t want wheel,” Musk once tweeted. He was also of the view that a round steering wheel blocks the view of the instrument cluster. It is important to note that unlike Tesla Model Y and Model 3, the Autopilot/FSD Beta driving visualizations are displayed on the smaller instrument cluster of the Model S and X instead of the center touchscreen.
Yoke Steering
The ultimate focus on driving: no stalks, no shifting. With a stalkless steering yoke, you can enjoy both the best car to drive, and the best car to be driven in.
Source: The Tesla Model S online car configurator.
Now, after almost 2 years, Tesla has finally realized that the company might actually be losing Model S and Model X sales just because of the yoke steering. Introducing a traditional round steering wheel will make it easy for potential customers to make a purchase decision, especially the older generation who have driven with these steering wheels for decades.
While configuring a Tesla Model S, Model S Plaid, and Model X in the Tesla online car configurator — the round steering now comes as the default included steering while the Yoke Steering is optional. The customer is able to choose either of these steering wheels without any additional costs (see screenshot below).
Some Tesla owners of the design refresh Model S/Model S Plaid even went to the length of retrofitting the Tesla Model 3/Y round steering wheel in their cars. But now Tesla is providing the Model S/X OEM steering wheel right out of the factory.
Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) also bought a Tesla Model S Plaid in 2021. Although in his review he said that he got used to the yoke, he suggested that Tesla should include a traditional steering wheel as an option as well.
At this time, Tesla has not given an official statement if older Tesla Model S Plaid and Model X owners will get a round steering retrofit option or not. Of course, this hardware change will not be free of cost.
Let us know what you think of Tesla’s introduction of a round steering wheel for the Tesa Model S Plaid and other variants of the S and X in the comments section below.
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Hi There I’ve had my MXP on 22″s on order for almost 15 months with only the Yoke as an option at that point which I thought I’d be ok with but a round wheel would be so much easier in terms of muscle memory…. will I have the chance to change to a Round wheel before delivery with messing with possible delivery time-scales ?
Actually, the Tesla rep at your store would really be the one to answer this. With the influx of new orders with the Round Steering offered, Tesla’s priority would be to install them first into new orders.
You must also check your Tesla Account if you can modify the order or you can email Tesla Support for a concrete answer. Please do drop an update on the official answer you get from Tesla.
Great News.
Yoke has been a Deal Breaker for me.
Really.
Almost 80, don’t want to learn new driving skills.