A new book claims that Elon Musk didn’t want the Tesla Model Y to have a steering wheel.
The book, Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century, has been written by The Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins and claims that Musk said the Model Y shouldn’t need to have a steering wheel as it was meant to offer full self-driving capabilities. Evidently, that didn’t happen.
Business Insider reports that Tesla’s former head of engineering Doug Fields led the development of the Model Y behind Musk’s back due to concerns that the automaker’s eccentric CEO would interfere with its design.
Tesla hasn’t commented on the reports. Fields ultimately left Tesla in mid-2018 at a time when Musk apparently wanted more control of the production processes of the company’s models.
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Musk has long talked about his goal of removing steering wheels once Tesla models reach full autonomy.
“I think there will be a transition period where people are able to take over from the robotaxi but once regulators are comfortable with us not having a steering wheel, we will just delete that,” Musk said in 2019. “The probability of the steering wheel being taken away is 100%. Consumers will demand it.”
Of course, removing the steering wheel from a vehicle would only be possible if Level 5 autonomy is achieved and no car manufacturer, including Tesla, is close to that. Tesla’s controversial yoke steering wheel of the facelifted Model S and Model Y could be viewed as a middle ground between a traditional steering wheel and having no steering wheel and despite its quirks, the yoke still gives drivers full control of the vehicle. Removing it completely isn’t something we expect to see for many years as even if companies make Level 5 a reality, it will likely take regulators years to approve such systems.
