Gary Zhou 
Want to know what it’s like to drive the Tesla Model Y with a yoke with FSD? Unplugged Performance did just this and shared a video yesterday. They quickly pointed out that this isn’t a product they are selling. They used a modified Model S yoke wheel, one that is not a direct retrofit, for this test. The goal was to simulate the experience of driving with a yoke-styled wheel in a Tesla Model Y.
In the video above, FSD was in full control of the vehicle (monitored by the driver, of course) and the yoke handled it pretty smoothly. I asked Ben Schaffer of Unplugged Performance about his thoughts. He shared this with me:
“As we consider that the future of Tesla is a Yoke future, we wanted to experience for fun what it would be like driving a Model Y with the Yoke. The nature of our business is to deeply understand the driving experience of all Tesla vehicles and then to find ways to personalize that experience. This is the beginning of our learning about the Yoke experience on a multitude of Teslas.
“Just as the Cybertruck was divisive at first impression, we find the Yoke generates the same divided reaction. That division of extreme opinions comes with the territory of any groundbreaking design that requires an expectation reset. After the initial shock comes, the actual experience and living with the new technology. Time is required to truly understand anything new.
“It is too early for us to have a strong opinion other than that we are sure it is the right wheel for a future that has autonomous driving. The optics of driving a car with a yoke just feel better regardless of whether there is a screen behind it or not. In much the way that the Model 3 interior debuted to controversy because there was no traditional dash, the yoke gives a similar zen-like experience of having less obstruction in eyesight and a feeling of decluttering the interior.”
Whether or not you prefer the normal wheel or the yoke, I do think that the yoke seems more minimalist, which fits Tesla’s overall design of its vehicles.
