Work in progress: stalks on 2021 Model S. (and optional round-y wheel)

[Gninoked]

Hey folks. I know it has been long stretches of zero useful updates, but just know that there are a few things at play:

1) I always underestimate the effort required to replicate something that took me weeks, and somehow think you can just throw it together and it isn't hard. If I had released my work without some refinement, it would have probably been a minor disaster of people trying to work off of seat-of-the-pants engineering.

2) My day job is busy as f---, and I just can't touch this stuff most days, much as I'd love to.

All those excuses out of the way, check out the latest prototype "brain" (on the right, obvs) with a huge bunch of help from my friend @Quickshoe to turn my soldered up prototype into a proper pcb. His board even worked the VERY FIRST TIME it was plugged in to my car, which is mind blowing!

We are still figuring out if/how/when/what this becomes a thing people can get from (somewhere), but I still plan to release my original specs so someone could cobble together their own soldered up version like mine on the left, if they choose. Just know that it is not easy and I'll stop saying it is easy and I'm sorry I said it was easy.

But mannnnn is the one on the right nice, Right?


View attachment 783264

That looks like great progress! Really appreciate the expertise and time you have put into this. Sasha gave the prototype wheel on our car a glowing review!

I know you didn't want to make a product in the end, but you are almost there now anyway haha! Given your time and energy limitations it might make sense to me to sell this to one of the Tesla shops so they can get it out there for everyone in a simple to consume package that can be supported and available for everyone!

 

[Dan_Foster]

Hey folks. I know it has been long stretches of zero useful updates, but just know that there are a few things at play:

1) I always underestimate the effort required to replicate something that took me weeks, and somehow think you can just throw it together and it isn't hard. If I had released my work without some refinement, it would have probably been a minor disaster of people trying to work off of seat-of-the-pants engineering.

2) My day job is busy as f---, and I just can't touch this stuff most days, much as I'd love to.

All those excuses out of the way, check out the latest prototype "brain" (on the right, obvs) with a huge bunch of help from my friend @Quickshoe to turn my soldered up prototype into a proper pcb. His board even worked the VERY FIRST TIME it was plugged in to my car, which is mind blowing!

We are still figuring out if/how/when/what this becomes a thing people can get from (somewhere), but I still plan to release my original specs so someone could cobble together their own soldered up version like mine on the left, if they choose. Just know that it is not easy and I'll stop saying it is easy and I'm sorry I said it was easy.

But mannnnn is the one on the right nice, Right?


View attachment 783264

Thank you for posting this—that’s phenomenal work. But why can’t Tesla be compelled to include the code to recognize the Model 3/Y wheel and stalks which would make the swap trivial?! Oh right…

Since we know Tesla will never make this easy, I hope you (or anyone if you’re too busy) will make the box on the right available for purchase since I find the new haptic controls—especially on-screen ‘shifting’—exasperating and stupid.

 

[Atraf]

Amazing progress, really hope this will end up as a kit not too different from @MountainPass "PartyBox" (in lieu of Tesla just flat out offering stalks + circular steering wheel as an option and or replacement service)

Speaking of MPP, their most recent video features a Plaid Model S with a Tesla Model 3 steering wheel:

My take on stalks gear shifter (R & D mainly) is that it just got to be somewhere you can reach, fast, without taking eyes off road and preferably without taking a hand of the steering wheel. Just picture this: you find yourself having rolled past the stop sign only to spot another vehicle coming at you FAST, no one is behind you, you just GOT to roll back 3-5 ft and avoid getting t-boned, whats better, getting that slider on the left side of screen to do the thing or flicking that stalk... Sure not every day, but it only take ones
Could also be a 3 point turn, fumbling gear change, hitting someone or just giving them a scare, or maybe the need to parallel park on busy street
Total showstopper / deal breaker for me

 

[rhuber]

Amazing progress, really hope this will end up as a kit not too different from @MountainPass "PartyBox" (in lieu of Tesla just flat out offering stalks + circular steering wheel as an option and or replacement service)

Speaking of MPP, their most recent video features a Plaid Model S with a Tesla Model 3 steering wheel:

FWIW, the control board in the MPP car is the one I posted a picture of a while back here:

I made a new prototype for someone to test, and was able to make it much more compact. This does everything, aside from gear selector (PRND). 100% LIN (no CAN).View attachment 767318

 

[SCharged]

Maybe I missed something but why are you advising against this modification? Both stalks look like they were meant to be there and does work, no?

I honestly appreciate the time and effort on this.

 

[Gninoked]

Maybe I missed something but why are you advising against this modification? Both stalks look like they were meant to be there and does work, no?

I honestly appreciate the time and effort on this.

Mechanically it's not hard - Tesla used a bunch of components for both that are roughly compatible. Electrically they are different, and the main issue is the software does not recognize the signals because there are different buttons etc. Ryan has figured out how to make the wheel scrollers and left stalk work, which is not as simple as it sounds and uses a LIN bus. The PRND stalk is CAN which is another layer of complexity so he skipped that on that prototype version that Sasha has installed on our car which he said is great.

I agree that it does look great and their might be significant demand out there for something like this. Tesla might also change their mind and install the prototype wheel they have developed that the lead Product Manager (also the CEO) decided he didn't want to release. I think it would be a great product for one of the Tesla tuners to release, but it's up to Ryan what he wants to do with it of course!

 

[Gninoked]

Amazing progress, really hope this will end up as a kit not too different from @MountainPass "PartyBox" (in lieu of Tesla just flat out offering stalks + circular steering wheel as an option and or replacement service)

Speaking of MPP, their most recent video features a Plaid Model S with a Tesla Model 3 steering wheel:

My take on stalks gear shifter (R & D mainly) is that it just got to be somewhere you can reach, fast, without taking eyes off road and preferably without taking a hand of the steering wheel. Just picture this: you find yourself having rolled past the stop sign only to spot another vehicle coming at you FAST, no one is behind you, you just GOT to roll back 3-5 ft and avoid getting t-boned, whats better, getting that slider on the left side of screen to do the thing or flicking that stalk... Sure not every day, but it only take ones
Could also be a 3 point turn, fumbling gear change, hitting someone or just giving them a scare, or maybe the need to parallel park on busy street
Total showstopper / deal breaker for me

That car is our teamPGR car that Sasha and MPP have been working on the last few months, getting it ready for one lap and doing development on all the new parts. Sasha has a complete list in the description for the video. The wheel is from Ryan though, so that isn't an MPP product Sasha can sell at this time. Very excited to pick it up this weekend and start out testing!

 

[tiltmaniac]

That car is our teamPGR car that Sasha and MPP have been working on the last few months, getting it ready for one lap and doing development on all the new parts. Sasha has a complete list in the description for the video. The wheel is from Ryan though, so that isn't an MPP product Sasha can sell at this time. Very excited to pick it up this weekend and start out testing!

Very cool to see.

 

[JJS in AZ]

Amazing progress, really hope this will end up as a kit not too different from @MountainPass "PartyBox" (in lieu of Tesla just flat out offering stalks + circular steering wheel as an option and or replacement service)

Speaking of MPP, their most recent video features a Plaid Model S with a Tesla Model 3 steering wheel:

My take on stalks gear shifter (R & D mainly) is that it just got to be somewhere you can reach, fast, without taking eyes off road and preferably without taking a hand of the steering wheel. Just picture this: you find yourself having rolled past the stop sign only to spot another vehicle coming at you FAST, no one is behind you, you just GOT to roll back 3-5 ft and avoid getting t-boned, whats better, getting that slider on the left side of screen to do the thing or flicking that stalk... Sure not every day, but it only take ones
Could also be a 3 point turn, fumbling gear change, hitting someone or just giving them a scare, or maybe the need to parallel park on busy street
Total showstopper / deal breaker for me

You aren't wrong. The yoke can rip out of your hands during slow-speed maneuvers when the caster tries to recenter the yoke. hit a curb my second day when it did. light scratch but it is ANNOYING. Having to hunt down the horn button when some jerk cuts you off is a safety hazard and fumbling for the correct turn signal is more of one.

 

[NarTaX]

Mechanically it's not hard - Tesla used a bunch of components for both that are roughly compatible. Electrically they are different, and the main issue is the software does not recognize the signals because there are different buttons etc. Ryan has figured out how to make the wheel scrollers and left stalk work, which is not as simple as it sounds and uses a LIN bus. The PRND stalk is CAN which is another layer of complexity so he skipped that on that prototype version that Sasha has installed on our car which he said is great.

I agree that it does look great and their might be significant demand out there for something like this. Tesla might also change their mind and install the prototype wheel they have developed that the lead Product Manager (also the CEO) decided he didn't want to release. I think it would be a great product for one of the Tesla tuners to release, but it's up to Ryan what he wants to do with it of course!

I thought his initial attempt was the left stalk over CANBUS? I'd be happy just to get a working left stalk. The screen based PRND isn't too bad to deal with.

 

[lzolman]

Yes, left stalk is the more necessary one, for directionals and flashing brights. If I want to tell someone to "go ahead", by the time I find the damn button to do so, it's waaaay too late to be useful.

 

[raygduncan]

This is so cool. I bow in your direction!

 

[Gninoked]

Yes, left stalk is the more necessary one, for directionals and flashing brights. If I want to tell someone to "go ahead", by the time I find the damn button to do so, it's waaaay too late to be useful.

Having driven this now for ~4000 miles on the road and at ~4 track days I can say this setup is great. We only have the left stalk but that seems to not matter too much, I know some would rather have it for the direction changes.

We have some videos up now on the teamPGR YouTube channel if you want to see the wheel in action: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSfUFJFjP7dyJC06F5OOMA/videos

 

[d47m122]

I'm so ready to help with this any way I can. Either by purchasing the work of others or by beta testing. My X with the yoke shows up in September, and we're removing it one way or another immediately.

 

[strider]

I'm so ready to help with this any way I can. Either by purchasing the work of others or by beta testing. My X with the yoke shows up in September, and we're removing it one way or another immediately.

Same here. I pick up my X on 7 May. I went ahead and ordered a Hansshow wheel to hold me until Ryan has time to package up his work into DIY-ready or he works w/ MPP or someone to create a kit.

 

[d47m122]

Same here. I pick up my X on 7 May. I went ahead and ordered a Hansshow wheel to hold me until Ryan has time to package up his work into DIY-ready or he works w/ MPP or someone to create a kit.

I would love to hear your feedback on the Hansshow. That's the one I was planning to get too.

 

[Murtaya]

I would love to hear about any updates on this (I signed up just for this thread!). I have a Model S on order and the plan was to at least get an aftermarket wheel, but after reading this thread, I'm realizing that the wheel only solves a small portion of the driver interface problems (which, funny enough, would all be solved with the Model 3 column/wheel conversion, and I really do like the size and setup of the Model 3 wheel). Even with an aftermarket wheel: most of them seem to be built around the yoke base, which is already huge--meaning the wheel will also be huge (I'd prefer a smaller one).

If there's any way to sponsor or support your work, let me know.

It sounds like none of the local Tesla places can even give a test drive with a yoke model to try out. At this point, I'm contemplating cancelling my order (I can just see myself upset on every three point turn, missed horn honk, failed blinker engagement, missed wheel grab, etc.).

(I know...people will say I would get used to the yoke and controls, but...I'd also get used to missing a leg, but that doesn't mean I should chop one off. Plus, it sounds like a lot of people here haven't been able to get used to some (or all) of the controls after considerable time with theirs.)

Thanks-

 

[Murtaya]

Tesla might be bringing native normal steering wheel to Yoke cars, no mention of Stalks, source:

Tesla might be cracking on the yoke steering wheel and planning to offer an option for a regular round wheel

When Tesla introduced the controversial yoke steering wheel, CEO Elon Musk surprised many when he said that the automaker didn’t...

electrek.co

This also made me wonder--In this article they show the Tesla service tools giving a prompt asking if a Yoke or a "Round" (wheel) is being used. If you set the car to the wheel option, will that make the car register the wheel's and stalk's input (so installing a Model 3 wheel/column would be completely plug and play)?

 

[strider]

That's an old article. No confirmation yet. I went w/ the Hansshow wheel and it has made a huge difference in how I like the car. Turn signals are still annoying and I have honked at people a couple of times while messing with TACC but an actual wheel makes the car enjoyable to drive.

 

[strider]

This also made me wonder--In this article they show the Tesla service tools giving a prompt asking if a Yoke or a "Round" (wheel) is being used. If you set the car to the wheel option, will that make the car register the wheel's and stalk's input (so installing a Model 3 wheel/column would be completely plug and play)?

Also, we are assuming that the "Tesla Wheel" will be a 3/Y wheel. If so, then they will have to provide stalks as the 3/Y wheel doesn't have the turn signal buttons on the wheel. They may instead take the yoke electronics and put it in a wheel, which is pretty much what Hansshow does - you move your yoke's electronics and airbag to their wheel.