The new Tesla Model S thinks it’s an airplane, but the brand should have grounded it
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The Tesla Model S is back for its fourteenth year with a few minor updates. The Model S does, however, return with the divisive, aircraft-inspired steering yoke, a familiar sight in the luxury EV’s recent iterations. And day-to-day drivers with no track aspirations might want to stick with a conventional steering wheel.
That’s right, the yoke steering wheel everyone hated is back in the new Tesla Model S
The new Tesla Model S Plaid brings back another of the brand’s familiar interior options: the yoke-style steering wheel. Familiar, yes. Popular, not so much. When Tesla first introduced the steering yoke, it was met with mixed reviews.
And there’s a good reason for the critiques. Tight, slow-speed maneuvers can be difficult with a yoke. The lack of a circular wheel makes hand-over-hand wheel work, say, in a parking lot, a tricky task. Considering most drivers will use their Model S to drive to work and the shops, a yoke-style wheel is less practical, more science fiction.
Mind you, there’s a place for the yoke steering wheel. Have you ever watched Formula 1 racing? Nine and three are exactly where your hands belong for high-speed cornering and track work. So, if your tri-motor Tesla Model S Plaid lives for the circuit, a yoke steering wheel is functional —and not just an impractical novelty and conversational set piece. It also provides unobstructed views of the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster.
Mercifully, the yoke isn’t mandatory. The standard, rounded steering wheel is a no-cost option in Tesla’s online configurator. And selecting the circular wheel doesn’t change the switchgear at all; it simply rounds things out. Mind you, not every car shopper with their eye on a new Tesla Model S has the option of a yoke wheel.
According to Tesla’s configurator for the new Model S, the base-model All-Wheel Drive trim offers the standard, circular wheel as its only option. That means, until the brand trickles the aircraft-style controls to the entry-level trim, the face-rearranging Plaid is the only Model S with the feature.
It’s not just the Model S, either. The luxury EV sedan’s lumpier sibling, the Model X, also offers the yoke-style wheel. However, like the Model S, the Model X Plaid is the only option for those car buyers who want to play pilot on the highway. At least a yoke steering wheel keeps the Dominic Toretto “Fast & Furious” wannabes from doing the 12 o’clock wheel grab. Silver linings, right?
