Tesla’s controversial ‘yoke’ steering wheel spotted in the wild for the first time

– Feb. 28th 2021 5:29 pm ET

Tesla’s controversial ‘yoke’ steering wheel in the new and updated Model S has spotted in the wild for the first time.

Last month, Tesla officially unveiled the new Model S and Model X refresh.

The unveiling of the new vehicle was somewhat strangely on the sidelines of the release of its Q4 and full-year 2020 earnings.

Tesla didn’t do an official release of the updated vehicles.

CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla will hold a separate call for the new Model S and Model X in the following week, but it never happened.

The update to the Model S and Model X includes a new powertrain and a brand-new interior, but one of the biggest changes is the new “yoke” steering wheel.

We did a deep dive on the steering wheel based on information that we obtained in a document Tesla shared with its staff.

Strangely, all the prototypes spotted since the unveiling of the vehicle featured a normal round steering wheel instead of the butterfly-shaped ‘yoke’.

It confused people as to if it would be an option, but Tesla’s Model S and Model X configurators currently only feature the yoke steering wheel.

Now for the first time, an actual Tesla Model S prototype was spotted with the new steering wheel:

The Kilowatts shared a few more pictures of the find – giving us one of the best look at the new Model S interior to date:

Tesla's controversial 'yoke' steering wheel spotted in the wild for the first time

It also gives us a good look at the new interior in white – one of the only few different options that Tesla offers.

As we previously reported, the shape of the steering wheel is the only significant change to the controls.

It doesn’t have any stalks and instead, all the controls for the wipers, blinkers, and honk are through force touch buttons on the wheel.

All the details should be confirmed in the coming weeks as Tesla starts deliveries.

Musk confirmed last week that Tesla was almost done with the retooling of the Model S and Model X production lines.

Deliveries are expected to start soon.

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Tesla

Tesla is a transportation and energy company. It sells vehicles under its 'Tesla Motors' division and stationary battery pack for home, commercial and utility-scale projects under its 'Tesla Energy' division.

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S is an all-electric luxury sedan and the first vehicle developed from the ground up by Tesla. The Tesla Roadster was the first vehicle developed by Tesla, but it was based on a chassis by Lotus.