The yoke wasn’t a joke.
At an event in California in early June, Tesla shipped the first Model S plaid models to customers with an updated dashboard and yoke for a steering wheel.
Yes, a yoke.
One of the owners of the Tesla Model S Plaid immediately brought his world’s best electric car to OCD Detailing in Fremont, California for work on it. Joe Torbati from OCD Detailing drove the Model S from one building to another and commented on what it’s like to steer with a yoke in the video above.
Joe found the yoke cool at first growing up dreaming about KITT from Knight Rider, but it only took 22 seconds for that impression to change. “This steering wheel is a little awkward,” remarked Joe.
Tesla Model S and X Stalkless gear selection
The video also shows how there is no longer a gear lever. The Model S should be able to predict in which direction the driver wants to drive. Again, this posed a problem after less than a 2 minute drive when Joe wanted the car to switch from moving forward to backward into the store. To do this, Joe had to use the touchscreen to put the Model S into reverse.
To park the car, you can touch a point on the parking screen or simply take off the steering wheel.
Every refreshed Model S in the Long Range or Plaid equipment features the yoke steering wheel. The refreshed Model X, which will hit customers’ garages early next year, will also feature the refreshed yoke interior.
