Yoke Steering Wheel in S, X Cybertruck. NHTSA says, ‘What you talking ‘bout, Elon?!”

[MEDICALJMP]

https://www.motor1.com/news/482845/nhtsa-statement-tesla-model-s-wheel/

Half a wheel might not be good enough for the NHTSA.

Christopher Smith,
Contributing Writer
January 29, 2021

It's been an interesting 24 hours for Tesla. The EV manufacturer announced updates coming to the Model S, which includes the new Plaid trim that gets over 1,000 horsepower, hits 60 mph in under two seconds, and in Plaid + trim has over 500 miles of range. As impressive as all that is, it's the wonky half-wheel for the driver that's arguably garnering the most attention.

It certainly grabbed our eye, not to mention the eye of just about everyone who caught the new Tesla announcement. Our debut article was filled with reader comments ranging from the steering ratio necessary to accommodate that design, to whether or not it's even legal for a production car.

Until we get a chance to slip behind the wheel (or yoke) ourselves, there's not much we can say about ratios. However, Motor1.com did contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the not-a-wheel wheel. An NHTSA spokesperson offered this short but interesting reply.

"At this time, NHTSA cannot determine if the steering wheel meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. We will be reaching out to the automaker for more information."

Logic suggests an automaker would be diligent in ensuring radical new designs meet various federal requirements. As such, it's possible Tesla designers did review such things and the NHTSA might simply have a mixup in its lines of communication. However, Tesla is also the company that has gullwing doors on an SUV that can flap in celebration mode. Tesla is the company that asks drivers if they want their mommy before engaging Ludicrous mode. Tesla is also the company that debuted the bonkers Cybertruck, which also raised questions about the legality of designs. In short, we doubt the NHTSA is mixed up.

Perhaps Tesla is aware of potential safety issues, as some images allegedly showing a standard wheel in the Model S have cropped up, but there's nothing official on the matter. In any case, the NHTSA is keen to know more about this half-wheel and frankly, we're keen to know more about the entire car. Stay tuned.



Source: NHTSA

Advertisement

 

[VI Tesla]

Gotta be crossed wires at NHTSA.
Or Tesla's like 'we're going to put it in and your going to like it.....' to NHTSA
That said, Elon does get frustrated with regulatory slowness.

 

[MEDICALJMP]

You may be spot on regard regarding his disdain for regulatory foot dragging.

I think it will take a demonstration of the car with the yoke (and my bet this is a drive-by-wire system) to prove to the naysayers that this a breakthrough in automotive safety.

EV automotive writer Tom Moloughney at InsideEVs.com had unkind words to say about the yoke. He tested the Mercedes prototype with a yoke and had a very hard time doing a u-turn. Without drive-by-wire and force feedback I would agree this is a horrible idea except for styling. With it Tesla will leave other manufacturers in the dust.




https://insideevs.com/features/482531/tesla-model-s-steering-yoke-joke/

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

https://www.motor1.com/news/482845/nhtsa-statement-tesla-model-s-wheel/

Half a wheel might not be good enough for the NHTSA.

Christopher Smith,
Contributing Writer
January 29, 2021

It's been an interesting 24 hours for Tesla. The EV manufacturer announced updates coming to the Model S, which includes the new Plaid trim that gets over 1,000 horsepower, hits 60 mph in under two seconds, and in Plaid + trim has over 500 miles of range. As impressive as all that is, it's the wonky half-wheel for the driver that's arguably garnering the most attention.

It certainly grabbed our eye, not to mention the eye of just about everyone who caught the new Tesla announcement. Our debut article was filled with reader comments ranging from the steering ratio necessary to accommodate that design, to whether or not it's even legal for a production car.

Until we get a chance to slip behind the wheel (or yoke) ourselves, there's not much we can say about ratios. However, Motor1.com did contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the not-a-wheel wheel. An NHTSA spokesperson offered this short but interesting reply.

"At this time, NHTSA cannot determine if the steering wheel meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. We will be reaching out to the automaker for more information."

Logic suggests an automaker would be diligent in ensuring radical new designs meet various federal requirements. As such, it's possible Tesla designers did review such things and the NHTSA might simply have a mixup in its lines of communication. However, Tesla is also the company that has gullwing doors on an SUV that can flap in celebration mode. Tesla is the company that asks drivers if they want their mommy before engaging Ludicrous mode. Tesla is also the company that debuted the bonkers Cybertruck, which also raised questions about the legality of designs. In short, we doubt the NHTSA is mixed up.

Perhaps Tesla is aware of potential safety issues, as some images allegedly showing a standard wheel in the Model S have cropped up, but there's nothing official on the matter. In any case, the NHTSA is keen to know more about this half-wheel and frankly, we're keen to know more about the entire car. Stay tuned.



Source: NHTSA

Christopher Smith writes like he has an axe to grind with Tesla. As such I cannot believe anything he has to say. I appreciate the quote from NHTSA which, I assume, is boilerplate. Manufacturers do not need to contact regulatory agencies every time they do something; they need only comply with the regulations. I would be surprised, indeed, if any auto maker would be so stupid as to intentionally make, and publicly advertise, a car that openly violated any regulation. Mr Smith knows this just as well as anyone.

 

[Crissa]

I appreciate the quote from NHTSA which, I assume, is boilerplate.

I'm pretty sure they'd say that about any car, too. They wouldn't want to state any of them as being compliant when they'd had yet to be built, let alone submitted.

-Crissa

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

And I like this Model S/X steering wheel. I’ll take whatever steering wheel puts in the CT but I won’t cry over losing those stalks whether we get a full round or a yoke steering wheel. I have a dozen or so controls on the stalks in my Lexus RX and I can never remember much more than up/down on both, and sometimes a pull. All the printing is more or less wasted because I can’t read it while driving. So bye bye stalks. I am not sure where I stand on the steering wheel buttons (not the scroll wheels, I am used to those). We’ll see. And the AI gear selector...I am not sure how it will do in parking lots and parallel or diagonal parking. Again, we will see.

 

[Crissa]

And the AI gear selector...I am not sure how it will do in parking lots and parallel or diagonal parking. Again, we will see.

Well, I was thinking about it, and if the FSD hardware is in ghost driving mode (where it's trying to guess what you'd do), it should be pretty smart most of the time. Every Tesla today gets the hardware for FSD built in, doesn't it? Originally, only those who customers paid for FSD had all the hardware, but now it's always there.

And it's not like Reverse isn't super-obvious in a Tesla, what with the camera views magnifying the rear views and taking over all the screens. Even my almost ten-year-old Mazda does that!

So it'll be obvious and it'll be pretty smart.

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

I dont really like the no physical button for selecting drive modes. Seems far less simple to rely on another system to pick and choose. People always quote elons "best part is no part" but i would argue this is adding, not subtracting...But I guess they have to prepare and test full autonomous car stuff someway.

Perhaps you will be able to say "shift to reverse." and it will, kinda cool.

 

[xodarap1]

I dont really like the no physical button for selecting drive modes. Seems far less simple to rely on another system to pick and choose. People always quote elons "best part is no part" but i would argue this is adding, not subtracting...But I guess they have to prepare and test full autonomous car stuff someway.

Perhaps you will be able to say "shift to reverse." and it will, kinda cool.

Until you lose your voice

 

[carpedatum]

Had a chance to consider this yesterday while backing out of a parking space at the harbor where we keep our boat. An ancient Ford pickup, parked illegally in a that's-not-a-parking-space behind my truck, severely limited how far I could back up. A person (who had no mask in the parking lot - irrelevant but it didn't help my stress level) climbed into the Hyundai parked next to me on the right as I hit the start button.

I think even a simple AI would understand my intent to back out. There was nowhere else to go. It would have picked "R". No problem there.

However, even with the steering wheel pulled as far to the left as the limited space between parked cars would allow, I would have hit the Ford behind me if I'd tried to simply back out of the space. I had to back to within a couple of inches of the thing, and execute a very tight three-pointer, as the Hyundai's backup lights came on. Really? You can see that someone is backing out of the space RIGHT NEXT TO YOURS and struggling with it, who is directly behind your car and within inches of it, and you decide to go into REVERSE?

I made that tight three point turn as fast as I possibly could, and as I was pulling away unscathed, had to wonder what might have happened if I had to take the extra time that I _think_ I would need if my steering wheel had been a yoke. I had to go lock-to-lock twice, as fast as possible.

This is the sort of real-world weird moment that we all face now and then. What does Tesla have up its collective sleeve here? Why would this not be a source of owner disappointment with the yoke?

Granted, Hyundai owners are likely to be a tad more respectful of the CT than they appear to be of my humble Ridgeline. Sure, if they do actually take foot-off-brake at a moment like that, then it is likely that the damage will be to their vehicle alone. Still, one would try to avoid an accident.

Is it possible that I could count on that same AI to see the need for that three-point turn and execute it faster than I could? How would that work?

 

[Crissa]

Is it possible that I could count on that same AI to see the need for that three-point turn and execute it faster than I could? How would that work?

The AI will be making the same calculations you were. And besides, you can just jab the controls if it guesses wrong. It's not like you change gears very often, that's like once or twice a drive, and always when you're sitting still.

-Crissa

 

[MEDICALJMP]

Still, one would try to avoid an accident.

Is it possible that I could count on that same AI to see the need for that three-point turn and execute it faster than I could? How would that work?

You assume the steering linkage is 1:1 with the yoke. On electronically controlled steering you can program a greater ratio of turn at slow speeds so that your tight turn can be accomplished with less rotation of the steering mechanism. At higher speeds less rotation....

The AI would have no issue turning the wheels.

Do I think that FSD would make the same maneuver as fast as you did in the same situation? Not knowing how long it took you it is hard to judge. From what I have seen on videos of it managing Summon feature I think the current integration would have taken longer than I would, but not appreciably so much longer. With time and Dojo training it may be faster than me.

 

[azjohn]

You may be spot on regard regarding his disdain for regulatory foot dragging.

I think it will take a demonstration of the car with the yoke (and my bet this is a drive-by-wire system) to prove to the naysayers that this a breakthrough in automotive safety.

EV automotive writer Tom Moloughney at InsideEVs.com had unkind words to say about the yoke. He tested the Mercedes prototype with a yoke and had a very hard time doing a u-turn. Without drive-by-wire and force feedback I would agree this is a horrible idea except for styling. With it Tesla will leave other manufacturers in the dust.




https://insideevs.com/features/482531/tesla-model-s-steering-yoke-joke/

During a recent E for Electric video Tom was very adamant that the yolk will not be used

 

[MEDICALJMP]

During a recent E for Electric video Tom was very adamant that the yolk will not be used

I agree that a yolk will not be used. So messy and sticky. Yuck!

However, Tesla already announced that a yoke will be used so I must disagree with Tom, even though I appreciate his opinions. There is too much linear thinking and not enough innovative thinking in the automotive business. That is something Tesla excels at and others drag their raggedly behinds.

 

[azjohn]

I agree that a yolk will not be used. So messy and sticky. Yuck!

However, Tesla already announce a yoke will be used so I must disagree with Tom, even though I appreciate his opinions. There is too much linear thinking and not enough innovative thinking in the automotive business. That is something Tesla excels at and others drag their raggedly behinds.

I don't think its a big deal especially if drive by wire is used. Both Tom and Alex were bringing up the Mercedes they test drove that had a yolk wheel and IMO being overly dramatic