Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Functional (!) benefits of the yoke?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I bet 9 out of 10 folks that say that never were gonna buy a Model S/X any way. They just like to use the Yoke as the justification.
I own a 2015 Model S. I eagerly anticipated getting the new one especially for its range and charging speed improvements, but I won’t buy it because of the horrid new controls. Yet it’s common knowledge that Tesla could enable a single setting in the shared code base to make it a trivial job to swap in the stalks and wheel from Models 3/Y. Alienating current customers for utterly pointless nonsense seems a poor business model, and yes, I realize they don’t care.
 
I own a 2015 Model S. I eagerly anticipated getting the new one especially for its range and charging speed improvements, but I won’t buy it because of the horrid new controls. Yet it’s common knowledge that Tesla could enable a single setting in the shared code base to make it a trivial job to swap in the stalks and wheel from Models 3/Y. Alienating current customers for utterly pointless nonsense seems a poor business model, and yes, I realize they don’t care.
Ditto. I could have written this exact comment without changing a word (or number). It's really disappointing.
 
I wrote a complaint to NHTSA about the yoke. Tired of all the "got used to it" comments. Parallel parking is horrible with it. Find the horn without looking down and turning on wipers at same time is absurd.
Have more often than once turned on wrong directional signal when not looking down.

For those that think airplane yokes are good a)they dont spin around and b) they arent wide as the Tesla one is and c) dont have tiny popple buttons. They are functionally different!

Flame me, agree with me, write your complaint or praise to NHTSA. I have electronic UI development experience and this fails miserably.
I have 49 years experience with round wheels. The yoke is great for me. It is more comfortable and secure than round wheels I have driven with. I say more secure because of the bat horns and round corners. I go through three traffic circles to get home and backup into my garage. I have no problems palming for backing up and parallel parking. The turn signals are easy to find using the raised line between them. To also find the horn by feel I put a clear raised button on it. Tesla could've put a raised dot or a circle around the horn. When some say they get used to it they are really say they're learning. Like getting used to a round wheel when they learned how to drive before Tesla.
 
Last edited:
4K miles and I still feel I’m getting better at it.

But within just a few days I was absolutely ok with it.

You just Bobble the blinker less. Click it perfectly without looking or hunting for it. Really smooth 3pt turns better than with a regular wheel.

Lots of muscle memory to unlearn.

Switching cars has been no problem either. The pilot seat triggers immediately the correct muscle memory to use.
+1 to all the above
 
I have 49 years experience with round wheels. The yoke is great for me. It is more comfortable and secure than round wheels I have driven with. I say more secure because of the bat horns and round corners. I go through three traffic circles to get home and backup into my garage. I have no problems palming for backing up and parallel parking. The turn signals are easy to find using the raised line between them. To also find the horn by feel I put a clear raised button on it. Tesla could've put a raised dot or a circle around the horn. When some say they get used to it they are really say they're learning. Like getting used to a round wheel when they learned how to drive before Tesla.
Well, you helped make my point. You had to make a modification. ;)
 
I have 49 years experience with round wheels. The yoke is great for me. It is more comfortable and secure than round wheels I have driven with. I say more secure because of the bat horns and round corners. I go through three traffic circles to get home and backup into my garage. I have no problems palming for backing up and parallel parking. The turn signals are easy to find using the raised line between them. To also find the horn by feel I put a clear raised button on it. Tesla could've put a raised dot or a circle around the horn. When some say they get used to it they are really say they're learning. Like getting used to a round wheel when they learned how to drive before Tesla.
Oh come on Elon quit posting in this forum. That's a conflict of interest for you.
 
"I go through three traffic circles to get home"...

Can you post a video of you actually using your turn signals properly in a round-a-bout with the Yoke? Because this is the one thing I find impossible.

I am serious about this, I really don't think you can do it without taking your eyes off the road or keeping your hands on the yoke and completely crossing your arms, neither of which are safe.

I just don't signal in round-a-bouts anymore, so the Yoke turned me into one of those drivers...
 
I understand a few owners can't adapt to new things. For me, I wouldn't go back. I expect the entire Tesla lineup will switch to the yoke within 2 years, except the Semi. Other car makers are also switching to a yoke but at a slower pace. Safer, easier, more convenient. Yes, a couple of people will hate it and buy something else. Tesla's competitors hate it because they didn't think of it first. I expect more people will want it just because it's different but will become a complete converts after using it for a week.

Zero problems parallel parking, 3-point turns (just as fast now as old round wheel). It can be awkward for an unusually sharp turn where you need to press the turn signal in the turn, but I've found it just as awkward for other types of sharp turns to get to the stalk turn signal. I'd say maybe I encounter this 1 out of 1000 turns - very rare (and I'm a religious turn-signaller!).
 
I understand a few owners can't adapt to new things. For me, I wouldn't go back. I expect the entire Tesla lineup will switch to the yoke within 2 years, except the Semi. Other car makers are also switching to a yoke but at a slower pace. Safer, easier, more convenient. Yes, a couple of people will hate it and buy something else. Tesla's competitors hate it because they didn't think of it first. I expect more people will want it just because it's different but will become a complete converts after using it for a week.

Zero problems parallel parking, 3-point turns (just as fast now as old round wheel). It can be awkward for an unusually sharp turn where you need to press the turn signal in the turn, but I've found it just as awkward for other types of sharp turns to get to the stalk turn signal. I'd say maybe I encounter this 1 out of 1000 turns - very rare (and I'm a religious turn-signaller!).
I’d be willing to bet the yoke does NOT come to the current 3/Y in its current form. Maybe (maybe) with variable ratio steering, and even then, nope - I doubt it.
 
Can you post a video of you actually using your turn signals properly in a round-a-bout with the Yoke? Because this is the one thing I find impossible.

I am serious about this, I really don't think you can do it without taking your eyes off the road or keeping your hands on the yoke and completely crossing your arms, neither of which are safe.

I just don't signal in round-a-bouts anymore, so the Yoke turned me into one of those drivers...
It would be more helpfull than a video to a person if they got behind a yoke and tried it out. If they don't like it and can't learn how to use it then a yoke is not for them.
 
Last edited:
Can you post a video of you actually using your turn signals properly in a round-a-bout with the Yoke? Because this is the one thing I find impossible.

I am serious about this, I really don't think you can do it without taking your eyes off the road or keeping your hands on the yoke and completely crossing your arms, neither of which are safe.

I just don't signal in round-a-bouts anymore, so the Yoke turned me into one of those drivers...
Large roundabouts you don’t make sharp turns. You are just doing the same as changing lanes. You may make gentle turns to change lanes on the rotary or to exit the rotary. Zero issue with using blinkers.

Medium roundabouts (1 lane rotary) you are not cutting in front of anyone to get off. Nobody is gonna turn left in front of you. No signal needed. You just drive off. You typically have smooth speed too. You don’t brake to exit. I had to check myself to see if I did and I never have. And I always signal. But I never have on these medium sized rotaries. And nobody else does either.

For tiny roundabouts (in the UK) you signal BEFORE you enter the intersection.

There is absolutely no issue with roundabouts.

Perhaps you had a habit of using signals on medium size ones.

The faster the rotary the smaller the turns (small deflection). If the rotary is functioning things never stop. So turns are typically not that Sharp because that would defeat the purpose of the rotary because you’d have to slow down for the sharp turn.

Exception is the tiny rotary in UK. But that I would argue isn’t really rotary. Just a weird intersection (with a sharp turn) that you signal ahead your intentions.

If you have an example where it doesn’t work please post a video (of you behind the Yoke showing how it doesn’t work, not your predictions that it won’t work) and GPS location. Maybe there are some weird exceptions.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: bay74
IMO the main purpose of the yoke is to curb demand for Model S/X and filter out a certain segment of buyers. Model S/X is a lot more experimental than 3/Y (all Teslas are prema-beta cars, but S/X get more experimental stuff), therefore requires people willing to try new things and love them just because they are Tesla, even when they offer no obvious functional advantage. It allows Tesla/Elon to get people to pay them to try all kinds of crazy stuff knowing people who are willing to live with the yoke, even convince themselves that they got used to it and they love it, are the best audience for such experiments. For example this guy learned that pushing the limits with the yoke is not a great idea, as it makes it harder to recover in an emergency, but of course he paid for his experiment (or maybe his insurance did, so he will pay over time).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mark II and kavyboy
I own a 2015 Model S. I eagerly anticipated getting the new one especially for its range and charging speed improvements, but I won’t buy it because of the horrid new controls. Yet it’s common knowledge that Tesla could enable a single setting in the shared code base to make it a trivial job to swap in the stalks and wheel from Models 3/Y. Alienating current customers for utterly pointless nonsense seems a poor business model, and yes, I realize they don’t care.
I was kind of thankful for the yoke, since I was really tempted to buy my 5th Model S, primarily because all the other manufactures of cars I would want have ultra long waitlists. Being a Tesla customer for many years I got fed up with their deteriorating service, constant experimenting on customers and treatment of customers after the 3/Y flood, but the yoke was what made it really easy to not pick up a plaid for the duration of my wait for my next car (Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo).

PS> It was only fitting that Tesla didn't even have a yoked car available for test drive when I inquired, meaning I would have had to buy purely on faith in Elon since they got rid of the 7 days money back guarantee if no test drive policy (maybe because of the yoke - would cost too much money to take back any car which the customer didn't like the yoke in the first 7 days). Too many things Elon asked people to buy of faith in the past for me to trust anything he sells without testing it before ordering. Remember people who bought 2016 Model S because Elon told people the car was going to be able to drive their kids, friends, and family around all by itself, then drive for the Tesla Ride Sharing Network to make money for the owner? That was 6 years ago! Anyone still believe Elon will deliver on that promise? If yes, that is some strong faith, you're definitely a yoke customer.