In Tesla’s latest pursuit of minimalist design, it has been reported that the 2023 Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover will lose their steering column stalks in favor of steering wheel-based controls. The report comes from Twitter user @ChrisZheng001, who is supposedly in touch with Tesla’s suppliers, and he claims these new controls will be in the same style as the ones currently found on the Model S.
Should that be the case, the left stalk’s features — which includes the turn signals, high beams, and windshield wiper controls — would likely be integrated into touch-sensitive buttons on either side of the left scroll wheel. Likewise, the right stalk’s responsibilities — which includes changing gears, enabling Autopilot, and activating the emergency brake — would be located adjacent to the respective scroll wheel on the right.
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The 2023 Model 3/Y will also remove the left and right paddles, sliding gearshift, and touch turn signals. pic.twitter.com/WDCqcRccu2
— Chris Zheng (@ChrisZheng001) August 29, 2022
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There’s also the chance that some of these features could leave the wheel altogether and instead end up on the infotainment screen. One of these will likely be the gear selector, as it already calls the screen its home on the Model S due to the car’s “auto shift” function that predicts which gear it will need to shift into ahead of time.
Thankfully, the new Model 3 and Y aren’t expected to receive the Model S’s controversial yoke. Rather, it’s believed that they will receive the same round steering wheel seen in the newest Tesla Semi photos. Since the main claimed benefit of the yoke was better gauge cluster visibility, the cluster-less Model 3 and Y have no real use for it other than the aesthetic.