- Enhance already offers custom switchgear for the Tesla Model 3.
- The new stalks will take less than 1 minute to install and communicate with the car wirelessly.
- It’s unclear how much the stalks will cost.
Some love Tesla’s minimalist take on interior design, while some hate it. One thing we suspect most would agree on is that Tesla’s decision to ditch traditional stalks on the updated Tesla Model 3 was a poor one. Fortunately, an aftermarket firm is coming to the rescue.
The company in question is known as Enhance and is best known for developing the S3XY Knob, which is a small rotary dial with four separate buttons that sits just in front of the standard cupholders and can be configured to control a whole host of vehicle functions. Earlier this month, Enhance took to X to preview the stalks it’s developing for the Model 3.
Just a short teaser video has been posted online, showing just a single stalk to the left of the wheel. The stalk appears very similar in design to the original stalks, but Enhance says it’s their own design and hasn’t been sourced from a Tesla supplier.
Whereas the S3XY Knob sold by Enhance plugs into a USB socket in the center console, there is no USB socket near the steering wheel. As such, it appears the stalks will communicate with the same Gen2 Commander that the firm sells alongside its wireless S3XY Buttons. This small unit plugs into the OBD-II port and connects via Bluetooth to the buttons. A similar setup can be expected for the manual stalks and the company says they’ll take less than a minute to install.
While the Model 3 has been widely criticized for not having stalks, it’s worth pointing out that it’s far from the first car delivered without stalks for things like turn signals and windscreen wipers. Ferrari famously ditched stalks in the 458 Italia in 2009, shifting most controls to the steering wheel.
It’s unclear if Enhance is also developing stalks for the Cybertruck and updated Model S and Model Xs which also lack traditional stalks.