It was a normal day drone camera recording over Tesla’s Fremont car factory last week by YouTuber Caliber197. This is when an unusual event was taking place at the factory’s well-known vehicle test track.
Tesla was in the process of conducting driving tests on the next-gen Tesla Model 3 aka Project Highland. Covers intentionally hid the car’s front fascia as well as the rear end.
However, the design-refreshed front fascia of the Project Highland Model 3 was revealed in a leaked photo last month. But still, a lot of detail needs to be witnessed for this upcoming Tesla Model 3.
The drone operator cameraman in this video (watch below), took the opportunity to take some closeup shots of the new Tesla Model 3 during testing. He was lucky enough to give us a few visual details of the interior.
At one moment, as the car’s driver door was open, we can witness a glimpse of the redesigned steering wheel of the upcoming Tesla Model 3. Tesla has made changes to this new steering wheel and it is now looking closer to a Tesla Semi steering design.

To hide the interior elements, Tesla has also covered the dashboard of the design-refresh Project Highland Model 3. Tesla has most probably changed the design and texture of the dashboard for the next-gen Model 3 but it has been obscured by the cloth which covers it.
At one point in the video, the driver puts the car into reverse gear using the on-screen scroll function just like in the new Model S and Model X. Tesla invented this new method of shifting gears because of the lack of stalks on the design-refreshed Model S/X steering wheels.
This suggests that the Project Highland Tesla Model 3 steering wheel will also come with a stalkless steering wheel. The automaker will continue to implement its futuristic UI in upcoming car models. Tesla usually does not backtrack from a design decision, so all future cars would incorporate steering wheels without stalks.
Looking at the picture below gives us a peek through the Model 3 prototype’s windshield, we can see that there are apparently no steering wheel stalks attached.
Stay tuned for constant Tesla updates, follow us on:
Google News | Flipboard | X (Twitter) | WhatsApp Channel | RSS (Feedly).

Related
- Tesla rolls out the 2025 Holiday Update (2025.44.25.1), new features and release notes
- Tesla FSD v14.2.1 conquers ‘The Snake’ highway in California (hairpin turns, ~30 curves, video)
- Tesla FSD v14.2.1 recognizes hand gestures and proceeds a red light and more (videos)
- License Tesla FSD or face the disruption — Musk once again warns legacy automakers
- Tesla offers 30-day FSD v14 trials to HW4 vehicles in North America, FSD v14.2 goes wide release
- Tesla update 2025.44 goes wide with Radio Traffic Announcements, dashcam tweaks, preps for Holiday Update (Release Notes)








