The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has provided an update on the legality of Tesla’s intriguing steering yoke that debuted with the facelifted Model S and Model X.
Tesla took off the covers to the facelifted Model S and Model X in January and at the time, the NHTSA released a statement revealing it could not yet determine if the yoke would meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The NHTSA has since provided some more clarification about the process being undertaken to see if the yoke is legal.
Read Also: Tesla’s Bizarre New Steering Yoke Is Legal In The UK, Department For Transport Says
“NHTSA is aware of the recently launched Tesla steering yoke in certain Model S vehicles,” it said in a statement provided to Teslarati. “We requested and received information from Tesla about the steering yoke and we remain actively engaged with the company during our review. NHTSA routinely engages with auto manufacturers and suppliers to better understand the new technologies and features they develop and introduce to the U.S. fleet.”
No timeline has been given as to when this review could be completed nor if the yoke will be determined to be legal or not.
It remains to be seen just why Tesla thought introducing a steering yoke like this would be a good idea, other than helping to generate headlines for itself. Not only does the design mean you won’t be able to rest your hand on top of the steering wheel when driving but it will also make slow driving maneuvers and parking unnecessarily difficult. Fortunately, the two updated EVs are available with regular steering wheels.
