New 2021 Model S Unveiled January 27, 2021

[JustSaying]

At least they kept the one display in front of the driver. That was the reason, other than size, that I went with the S rather than 3. Not sure about the steering wheel. Have bad memories from the early 80’s as a dumb kid cutting down a steering wheel to made one like Knight Rider. Did not work out well. I am not crazy about the flat bottom ones you get in some Audi’s. When you turn the steering wheel you expect it to be in the same place. Maybe Elon thinks steering wheels are going to be less important as we move along?

As an old "fatter" guy I like the flat bottom on the steering wheel (the same as my sons Q5). I wish my old 56 TBird had it. The telescoping steering wheel was a pain...

 

[AustinPowers]

I wonder how you can manually adjust the wiper (speed, single wipe, etc.) without a stalk/button for it.
Going by how terrible the automatic wipers are in their current iteration, this would be a big concern for me. After all, other than the missing auto-turning headlights it's the thing I dislike most about my Model 3.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Hope not, the low dash in the 3 is one of my biggest dislikes. No problem with visibility in the previous S.

Heh, eye of the beholder. It's one of the favorite things in my 3.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Can't see them bringing that steering wheel to market.

That steering wheel will surely be round though. I can't imagine it's legal.

I agree with these comments. I can't imagine it's legal, even if it's on the Design Studio page. Are there any other cars sold in the US with non-standard steering wheels? Musk has a strange obsession with these yoke wheels.

Other than the steering wheel, I like the other updates, but not enough to replace my P100DL+.

 

[glhs272]

This redesign scares me. Rather the new steering "wheel", not really bothered by the rest. I can't fathom what Tesla is thinking. There is a reason the steering wheel is mostly round. In fact, I thought it was required by law. The only way a yolk style steering wheel has any practicality is if it only is quarter turn center to lock. Much like an airplane. Very dangerous to have such fast steering on a non-race car. I absolutely hate it.

 

[Electric700]

I like the new Model S! I am sure Tesla is doing a lot of testing with the new steering wheel to make sure it is safe and that people will like it.

 

[Needsdecaf]

I wonder how you can manually adjust the wiper (speed, single wipe, etc.) without a stalk/button for it.
Going by how terrible the automatic wipers are in their current iteration, this would be a big concern for me. After all, other than the missing auto-turning headlights it's the thing I dislike most about my Model 3.

Looks like touch controls on the pads next to the scroll wheels. My guess would be one button on the pad that acts the same as the button on the end of the turn stalk on the 3: tap to swipe, press to wash and either bring up the wiper menu on the screen.

 

[Needsdecaf]

I am sure Tesla is doing a lot of testing with the new steering wheel to make sure it is safe and that people will like it.

 

[MSPFL]

Thoughts on what happens to the plaid pre orders? Hoping the system does an automatic upgrade to plaid plus...

FWIW, my reservation hasn’t changed and still shows plaid at 140k.

Edit:
Any other automaker and I wouldn’t even bother asking for opinions. But with Tesla I’ve learned not to take it for granted that they will do the sensible thing...

 

[Srad600Volt]

I like the subtle exterior changes. Honestly, I appreciate the vertical stack of the past S models from an aesthetic standpoint, but I can understand moving the entire line in the same direction. So it was a bit inevitable that the S/X stack would emulate that of the 3/Y eventually. I love that they have retained a traditional "gauge cluster" in front of the driver. I feel like the 3/Y are really missing out by not having that. As others have expressed, the steering "wheel" is a WTF? I enjoy performance driving, and typically do so in the mountains. I'm curious how you can navigate a switchback turn with that wheel. Seems Elon has been watching a lot of F1.

 

[BradWI]

With the MCU being horizontal like the 3/Y should we expect them to pretty much cease any significant UI updates for the current S/X vertical MCUs as they focus on the new models?

 

[DamonLewis]

With the MCU being horizontal like the 3/Y should we expect them to pretty much cease any significant UI updates for the current S/X vertical MCUs as they focus on the new models?

I really hope they don't - software wise, it's really not that hard to support different screen layouts, at least compared to the amazing software challenges they're solving elsewhere.

 

[Crutonius]

That steering wheel...

It's interesting. It clears up the view to the IC. I don't know how it's supposed to work safely but I say give Tesla a chance. Maybe when they do an official announcement they'll explain that they've done something clever with it.

 

[Cheburashka]

What's shocking is they kept those Tempest wheels..

As for the rest of it, I don't hate it. I don't think its a major step up from what we have now though. The interior kinda looks like a M3/MY with an additional screen. If I was in the market I would skip over the Model S and just go for the Y.

 

[Zorg]

Like the new interior, not the price

 

[fcastrillo86]

I'm liking the new look! The interior is a welcome change. Exterior didn't change much, but the changes are still appreciable.

 

[ucmndd]

Despite apparent popular opinion here, after a bit of googling the FMVSS code I can find no apparent statutes that require steering wheels to be... well, wheels.

In fact, there appears to be an effort to scrub references to "steering wheel" from the code and generalize it to "steering controls", specifically because of the presence or possibility of other shapes or types of controls.

Regulations.gov Beta

At every occurrence of the term “steering wheel,” we have substituted the term “steering control.” These terms are synonymous as can be seen by the definition of “steering control system.” Nonetheless, the agency believes there is some merit in changing “wheel” to “control” in consideration of steering controls that may not be circular, e.g., shaped more like an air plane yoke control. We note that such systems would have both a “hub” about which they turn and a rim, i.e., an outer edge. A similar change was made in every FMVSS that is the subject of this NPRM.

 

[Beantown]

So how bad should I feel since I just bought my first Tesla, a 2021 Model S, that was delivered Christmas Eve? Should I feel as upset as I do now even though I love the car I have?

 

[MarcG]

So how bad should I feel since I just bought my first Tesla, a 2021 Model S, that was delivered Christmas Eve? Should I feel as upset as I do now even though I love the car I have?

If you have been following the forums or EV news, you would have expected a refresh in early 2021..

 

[Crutonius]

I wonder if they've improved the front visibility. It looks like those visors are a little different.