The shape of the yoke itself adds an unnecessary layer of confusion, especially during a three-point turning maneuver. As a result, she had to grip the yoke uncomfortably harder than she would a traditional steering wheel. And another tester said her hands were too small to get a good grip in the first place as the yoke seemed too thick, apparently designed for larger hands to hold. Even those without carpal tunnel or repetitive strain injuries had similar complaints: One of our testers took a three-hour highway trip in the Model S, and hand soreness was the first thing he mentioned afterward. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s own words seem to suggest that the change is purely for cosmetic reasons.įor me, such a grip becomes painful after just a few minutes-even more so, because the “grips” on the yoke itself aren’t well padded. Tesla did not respond to our inquiries for this article, and has not answered questions from our reporters since May 2019. But the steering wheel is so essential, ubiquitous, and universally understood, that to change it for the sake of changing it seems both foolish and foolhardy.
TRICKY TEST 2 PUSH THE BUTTONS 10 TIMES SOFTWARE
What we don’t know is why, in the words of one of our testers, Tesla chose to turn the humble-but-effective steering wheel into a "meme." Tesla is famous for departing from traditional norms, often for good reasons-plenty of other automakers now send software updates directly to vehicles, a strategy that Tesla pioneered.
But we know cars, and we know steering wheels. We haven’t studied all steering wheels this closely, so we don’t have official comparative data.
TRICKY TEST 2 PUSH THE BUTTONS 10 TIMES DRIVERS
Over the course of a full week, 10 of our test drivers chronicled every time it slipped out of their hands during a turn, every ache and pain from gripping the handles during a highway cruise, every time a tester’s hands didn’t fit on the yoke’s grips, every time we accidentally honked the horn while trying to make a turn, and every time we had to look down to see which turn signal was which-so you can decide whether it’s a deal-breaker for what appears to be an otherwise excellent EV. So we devoted this entire article to the yoke. Friends and family ask us, “Have you tried the yoke?” Tweets about the yoke get thousands of likes. But the yoke is such a jarring departure from the norm that we felt it deserved its own evaluation. And after we’ve completed months of in-depth testing-the same tests that Consumer Reports conducts on every car we anonymously purchase and evaluate-we’ll publish our full review of the vehicle with test results. Once we’ve driven our brand-new Model S a few more miles, we’ll publish a fuller First Drive review that will go into detail about all the changes to the updated car.
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