Have we finally reached peak turn-everything-into-a-touch-control and are progressing down the other side back to sanity? Or is Tesla just messing with us by letting its refreshed Model Y keep its turn signal stalk?
The new Model Y “Juniper” has quietly debuted in China and Japan. The freshened electric SUV features updates similar to those seen on the new Model 3. The Model Y exterior features a new, Cybertruck-esque front fascia and a redesigned, light-diffusing rear light bar, while the interior adds ventilated front seats, an 8.0-inch rear touchscreen, and a new steering wheel. But what’s been retained is also creating chatter: the turn signal stalk.
Tesla has always pushed the envelope on design or lack thereof (because everyone interprets art differently). The EV maker has generally approached everything with a minimalist perspective. For example, a large center touchscreen acts as the vehicle’s command center encompassing infotainment, instruments, climate controls, and more, creating a wide-open cabin devoid of anything else, really. In Tesla’s new vehicles, that means no steering column stalks or traditional gear shifters.
The Cybertruck was introduced sans stalks, and the refreshed Model 3 followed suit. Want to inform fellow commuters of your directional intent? There are steering wheel-mounted buttons for that. Surely intuitive and not annoying. What about shifting? Just press on the accelerator pedal to automatically switch to drive. That’s easy enough. Auto Shift predictively shifts the car between reverse and drive, a bit like a directional autocorrect, but failing that, you have to swipe the touchscreen controls to change gears. OK, there are overhead buttons within the headliner as a backup. At least buttons still exist! But only on the steering wheel. Perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky even to have cupholders.
Anyway, why keep something so backward, like a physical indicator stalk, in a vehicle that Tesla calls a “Starship?” When a Model Y owner retrofitted dash buttons, the act was seen as a disturbance in the Tesla Force. Descriptors such as “primitive,” “useless,” and “reverse” trickled into the then-Twitter replies.
“The New Model Y provides effortless control with a precision-engineered indicator stalk, thoughtfully refined based on valuable customer feedback,” said Tesla, as quoted by an investor via social media.
Wait, so people actually asked for this? Like, Tesla people? Some automakers have reverted to old-school mechanisms even as their vehicles add more in-car tech. The Toyota 4Runner has tons of buttons; the Volkswagen GTI brought them back after a painful detour into touch-only. Late-model Hondas have reverted back to regular PRNDLs and clicky steering wheel volume controls after ditching both a few years back. Hyundai reintroduced the column shifter in the Santa Fe. The South Korean automaker has even acknowledged that touchscreen-only controls are not only stressors but straight up unsafe. Even with haptic feedback, you still need to take your eyes off the road.
“For me, the safety-related buttons have to be a hard key,” said Hyundai design boss SangYup Lee. “When it comes to Level 4 autonomous driving, then we’ll have everything soft key [touch controls].”
Despite Tesla sales not being what they once were, the brand still captures nearly half of all U.S. EV sales, and the Model Y is the best-selling EV globally. Does this mean Tesla is playing it safe with its money maker? It’s definitely a non-change that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Even though Rivian says buttons are “a bug,” and as luxury brands like BMW and Lincoln introduce full-cabin display screens, there apparently is still a consumer want for tangible vehicle controls.
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