News
Tesla is priming customers for a disappearing steering wheel
Tesla’s introduction of the “Yoke Steering Wheel” with the Model S refresh saw mixed reviews upon initial examination. The always sporty Model S has adopted a new, supercar-like interior, with the Yoke capping off Tesla’s redesign to the flagship sedan.
However, upon further examination, I realized that Tesla isn’t priming the Model S to be a supercar. Of course, the introduction of the face-melting Plaid+ variant is undoubtedly a nod toward those who require a little extra pep from the all-electric powerhouse. However, the Yoke steering wheel is undoubtedly a minimalization of arguably the most necessary piece of a car’s interior. But Tesla’s mission is self-driving, so it seems the company is actually priming drivers to get used to less and less of a steering wheel and could be the reason for the size reduction.
It can be noted that the Yoke does not cover or reduce visibility to the instrument panel or the windshield. It is a low-sitting steering column that provides maximum visibility during a drive. It is certainly complimentary of the new powertrain and performance specifications with its sporty look. However, the big picture is that Tesla is preparing its first sedan for a future of driverless navigation.
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For the past few months, Tesla has really made some serious leaps in the pursuit of Full Self-Driving. While the company’s robust and intricate FSD Beta is among the most successful self-driving platforms, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Of course, Tesla will take any steps necessary to increase the accuracy of its self-driving project, but really, it only takes the drivers to do that, as the Neural Network continues to make vehicles smarter with every mile driven.
As self-driving moves closer to reality, Tesla is beginning to minimize its interiors even more than ever before. While the HVAC system is now streamlined to eliminate outdated vents, the car is, in effect, becoming a moving entertainment center. As photographs of the new Model S interior show, there are three screens, storage compartments, a steering wheel, and pedals. There is not much more on the inside, appealing to a modern contemporary taste of interior design while still upholding the classic safety standards of the automobile. Things are becoming smaller, more simple, and less cluttered inside the car in preparation for the self-driving future that will inevitably confront us within the near future. When, exactly, nobody knows. But it will be soon, Elon Musk says.
The car, internally, is becoming more sophisticated, smarter, complex, and intricate with every mile driven. The inside of the car is doing the exact opposite. While the parts of the vehicle that control navigation are minimizing or disappearing, the car’s entertainment is becoming the focal point.
Many noticed that while the steering wheel became smaller, it didn’t disappear altogether. It can’t. At least not at this point in time, because Tesla hasn’t attained Level 5 autonomy yet. However, the stalks, which control the turn signals, headlights, wipers, and the gearshift on a Tesla, have all been removed. It’s the beginning of the end of drivers being able to control these features of the car. Eventually, the vehicle will do all of these things without any interference or intervention from the person who is in control.
While the stalks have turned into buttons on the steering yoke, the removal hints toward the next generation of minimalistic Tesla interiors. Eventually, we may think the Model 3 and Model Y interior was clunky and too busy. Looking at past photos of the Model S interior already gives me that feeling when comparing it to the new interior. Of course, things improve over time, and it was only a matter of when Tesla decided to do this, considering the self-driving suite has been a goal of Musk’s for several years.
No stalks on the new Tesla Model S/X steering wheel, so here’s how you use the turn signals pic.twitter.com/bVdGVsvj8t
— Drive Tesla ?? #FSDBetaCanada (@DriveTeslaca) January 28, 2021
Eventually, Tesla will continue to phase out small, insignificant parts of the car to make an easier transition later on when FSD is fully rolled out, and the automaker captures full autonomy. It wouldn’t make sense not to update the interior along the way, and instead, have people go from a car with normal interior designs to a car with literally nothing but screens.
Most importantly, Tesla could also offer a full-wheel setup for those who are not in favor of the Yoke. Many people texted and contacted me, stating that they were not a huge fan of the new design for a daily driver and that it could be more advantageous to introduce the option for a full-wheel design later on. I think that the Yoke is certainly very objective and, while some find it appealing and interesting, others do not. There is no right or wrong answer in terms of what is more advantageous, but Tesla’s goal is to begin preparing drivers for a car that will drive itself, eliminating the need for a wheel or any other regularly used control mechanisms within a car.
It has already begun.
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News
Tesla is showing us that Cybercab mass production is well underway
Tesla’s Cybercab drives itself off the Gigafactory Texas line in a striking new production video.
Tesla has provided a first look from inside a production Cybercab as it drove itself off the assembly line at Gigafactory Texas. The video footage, posted on X, opens on the factory floor with robotic arms and assembly equipment visible through the Cybercab windshield, and follows the car through a branded tunnel marked “Cybercab”, before autonomously navigating itself to a holding lot.
The first Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas production line on February 17, 2026, with Musk writing on X, “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.” April marked the official shift to volume production. The Giga Texas line is being prepared to produce hundreds of units per week, with 60 units already spotted on the Gigafactory campus earlier this month.
Purpose-built for autonomy
Cybercab in production now at Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/Y9qG3KyWBa
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 23, 2026
The Cybercab was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event in October 2024 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk said he believed the average operating cost would be around $0.20 per mile, and that buyers would be able to purchase one for under $30,000. The two-seat design is deliberate. Musk noted that 90 percent of miles driven involve one or two people, making a compact two-passenger vehicle the most efficient configuration for a fleet-scale robotaxi. Eliminating rear seats also removes complexity and cost, supporting that sub-$30,000 target.
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once several factories reach full design capacity. The Cybercab has no steering wheel, no pedals, and relies entirely on Tesla’s vision-based FSD system. What the video shows is the first evidence of that system working not as a demo, but as a production reality, driving itself off the line and into the world.
🚗 Our first ride in Tesla Cybercab last October: pic.twitter.com/kGqIqgJPRn https://t.co/BITCXFhbVd
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2025
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s last manually driven Tesla will do something no other production car will do
Elon Musk confirmed the Roadster as Tesla’s last manually driven car, with a debut coming soon.
During Tesla’s Q1 2026 earnings call on April 22, Elon Musk made a brief but notable comment about the long-awaited next generation Roadster while describing Tesla’s future vehicle lineup. “Long term, the only manually driven car will be the new Tesla Roadster,” he said. “Speaking of which, we may be able to debut that in a month or so. It requires a lot of testing and validation before we can actually have a demo and not have something go wrong with the demo.”
That single statement is the entire Roadster update from yesterday’s call, and while it represents another timeline shift, it comes as no surprise with Tesla heads-down-at-work on the mass rollout of its Robotaxi service across US cities, and the industrial scale production of the humanoid Optimus.
The fact that Musk specifically framed the Roadster as the last manually driven Tesla is significant on its own. As the rest of the lineup moves toward full autonomy, the Roadster becomes something rare in the Tesla-sphere by keeping the driver in control. Driving enthusiasts who buy a $200,000 supercar are not doing so to be passengers. They want the physical connection to the road, the feel of acceleration under their own input, and the experience of controlling something with that level of performance. FSD, however capable it becomes, removes that entirely. The Roadster signals that Tesla understands this distinction and is building a car specifically for the people who consider driving itself the point.
Tesla isn’t joking about building Optimus at an industrial scale: Here we go
The specs for the Roadster Musk has teased over the years are genuinely unlike anything in production. The base model targets 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, a top speed above 250 mph, and up to 620 miles of range from a 200 kWh battery. The optional SpaceX package takes it further, rumored to add roughly ten cold gas thrusters operating at 10,000 psi, borrowed directly from Falcon 9 rocket technology. With thrusters, Musk has claimed 0 to 60 mph in as little as 1.1 seconds. In a 2021 Joe Rogan interview he went further, stating “I want it to hover. We got to figure out how to make it hover without killing people.” Tesla filed a patent for ground effect technology in August 2025, suggesting the hover concept has not been abandoned. The starting price remains $200,000, with the Founders Series requiring a $250,000 full deposit. Some reservation holders placed those deposits in 2017 and are approaching a full decade of waiting.
With production now targeted for 2027 or 2028 at the earliest, the Roadster remains Tesla’s most audacious promise and its longest-running delay. But if what Musk is testing lives up to even half of what he has described, the demo alone should be worth waiting for.
Elon Musk says the Tesla Roadster unveiling could be done “maybe in a month or so.”
He said it should be an extraordinary unveiling event. pic.twitter.com/6V9P7zmvEm
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2026
Elon Musk
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla confirmed HW3 vehicles cannot run unsupervised FSD, replacing its free upgrade promise with a discounted trade-in.
Tesla has officially confirmed that early vehicles with its Autopilot Hardware 3 (HW3) will not be capable of unsupervised Full Self-Driving, while extending a path forward for legacy owners through a discounted trade-in program. The announcement came by way of Elon Musk in today’s Tesla Q1 2026 earnings call.
🚨 Our LIVE updates on the Tesla Earnings Call will take place here in a thread 🧵
Follow along below: pic.twitter.com/hzJeBitzJU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2026
The history here matters. HW3 launched in April 2019, and Tesla sold Full Self-Driving packages to owners on the understanding that the hardware was sufficient for full autonomy. Some owners paid between $8,000 and $15,000 for FSD during that period. For years, as FSD’s AI models grew more demanding, HW3 vehicles fell progressively further behind, eventually landing on FSD v12.6 in January 2025 while AI4 vehicles moved to v13 and then v14. When Musk acknowledged in January 2025 that HW3 simply could not reach unsupervised operation, and alluded to a difficult hardware retrofit.
The near-term offering is more concrete. Tesla’s head of Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy confirmed on today’s call that a V14-lite will be coming to HW3 vehicles in late June, bringing all the V14 features currently running on AI4 hardware. That is a meaningful software update for owners who have been frozen at v12.6 for over a year, and it represents genuine effort to keep older hardware relevant. Unsupervised FSD for vehicles is now targeted for Q4 2026 at the earliest, with Musk describing it as a gradual, geography-limited rollout.
For HW3 owners, the over-the-air V14-lite update is welcomed, and the discounted trade-in path at least acknowledges an old obligation. What happens next with the trade-in pricing will define how this chapter ultimately gets written. If Tesla prices the hardware path fairly, acknowledges what early adopters are owed, and delivers V14-lite on the June timeline it committed to today, it has a real opportunity to convert one of the longest-running sore subjects among early adopters into a loyalty story.
Tesla is showing us that Cybercab mass production is well underway
Elon Musk’s last manually driven Tesla will do something no other production car will do
