One benefit is it offers.
The steering yoke of Tesla is quite a departure from the conventional circular steering wheel. It’s also a controversial change. Safety concerns are top of mind. This is compounded by increased scrutiny of semi-auto-driving technologies. Consumer Reports has recently bought its Model-S for evaluation. The full review will be coming soon, but the publication has already shared some initial concerns about the yoke.
The publication stated that the yoke is not difficult to learn to use, but it’s unclear what the benefits of the yoke are. It is easy to slip out of your hands, making it impossible to use traditional hand-overhand or shuffle steering. This can make certain maneuvers more difficult.
CR The yoke also caused soreness in some testers. It was difficult to grip the yoke due to its large handles and poor padding. There were also limited options for hand placement that would be safe and comfortable.
The Tesla steering wheel yoke houses the turn signals, but it does so in an inconsistent manner, according to CR. This is not the only problem. The turn signal will flash three times with a light press, and vibrate once when the yoke is pressed. The yoke vibrates twice when the driver presses the button to cancel. This is complicated by the absence of physical buttons and the possibility that their orientation could flip while turning.
This is not all bad news. It’s easier to see the screen gauges with a rectangular steering wheel. Also, visibility is better when you’re behind a wheel. It becomes useless if you have to constantly search for the right turn signal.
While attentive drivers should be able overcome most of these hiccups but it could be more difficult to retrain one’s muscle memory to respond during an emergency or high speed lane change, it is possible to be more patient. CR ends its report by stating that it is determining “what type of additional practice its trained drivers require before they can tackle its high-speed maneuver test. The Consumer Reports full report is available at the following link.