Tesla unveiled its long-awaited update to its Model S sedan in its annual financial presentation for 2020 today. The car sports a new front panel, but its biggest changes are the interior, where a yoke-style steering wheel and a landscape-oriented touchscreen in the Model-3 style are the most radical changes to the model.
The new Model S steering wheel looks a lot like what was revealed for the new Tesla Roadster, with just a few more buttons that make the Model S version a little more functional – but only a little. It’s cool to sit behind a steering wheel that looks like you’ve come out of an airplane, but members of The Drive’s officials who conducted replicas of the 1980s KITT show Knight Let’s say that using a joystick on a car is extremely irritating.
The breeches work on an airplane because you don’t have to rotate them so much. Unless there is an extremely short steering rack on the new Model S – which is doubtful on a production road car – making the car take sharp turns, parking spaces or other situations where you need to be completely closed will be more frustrating than it would be to have a traditional round wheel. The reason? There is no good place to grab the top of the stick.
Tesla also abandoned the Model S steering column rods, moving key functions to the lights and turn signals on the steering wheel itself. Something that is visibly absent from what we can see in the photos is the windshield wiper symbol. We hope that Tesla has made wiper settings easier to control than on Model 3, as a German owner of Model 3 had his driver’s license suspended last year for running off the road while adjusting his wipers.
While upgrading the Model S replaces the tall screen with a landscape screen similar to the Model 3, the interior was not entirely Model 3. There is still a smaller screen on the traditional meter dashboard in front of the driver for the most important car information.
According to the recently updated Model S ordering page, the new central touchscreen features a 2200×1300 resolution and left-right tilt. A third rear display, which is built into the rear of the car’s center console, includes controls and entertainment options for the rear passengers of the car.
Both center screens are ready for games with up to 10 teraflops of processing power, compatibility with wireless game controllers and access to the Tesla Arcade. The Model S also comes with a 22-speaker, 960-watt sound system, as well as active noise cancellation for when you need to use the car’s microphones for calls or voice controls.
The simplified interior of the Model S no longer has visible openings for climate control, and all airflow and temperature controls have been moved to the touch screens.
Another interesting feature in the Model S is its standard glass roof, which opens the interior to the outside world. Tesla says the roof will block infrared and ultraviolet light to reduce heat and glare during the hottest part of the day. It’s not as extreme as the Model X’s curved glass windshield, as you still have a beam in front of the driver’s head with sun visors and the other usual equipment.
Model X is also being updated, although Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not give a timeline of when these updated versions will reach customers’ hands on today’s conference call. According The Verge, the revamped Model X is getting a transmission and interior upgrade system similar to the Model S with the same landscape touchscreen on the front, touchscreen on the rear center console and, yes, that damn yoke-style wheel.
In the meantime, those of you who are waiting for Cybertruck will have to wait a little longer, as Musk said that Cybertruck production will start now in 2022.
In today’s conference call, Musk confirmed that the revamped S model cars are already in production and deliveries are scheduled to begin in February. This February release date includes the most powerful Trimotors Model S Plaid models that are able to go from 0-60 in less than 2 seconds and a top speed of 320 km / h. The Model S Plaid + adds more range to the dizzying 0-60 time, bringing the Plaid’s 390 mile range to an impressive 520 miles. Unless a new participant in the range wars appears, the Model S Plaid will have the longest range of any electric vehicle after its launch.
Per The Verge, Tesla says that the powertrain updates and the addition of a new heat pump that was originally developed or the Model Y allow the new Model S Plaid and Model S Plaid + to do five times more quarter mile runs than Ses models that preceded them.
Meanwhile, the regular twin-engine S Long Range model – which is now the base model in the Model S line – has increased the price from $ 69,420 to $ 79,990 in the configurator. So much for reducing the price of Lucid Air. Plaid starts at $ 119,900 and Plaid + starts at $ 139,990.