According to Twitter user @ChrisZheng001, who has ties with the Tesla supply chain in China, the Model 3 and Model Y will be receiving a new steering wheel for the 2023 model year.
The new steering wheel will supposedly follow what has already been done with the new Model S; replacing the steering wheel stalks with touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel.
In a Model 3 or Model Y, the left stalk is mainly used for the vehicle's turn signals, but it can also be used to activate or flash the car's high beams. The button at the end of the stalk brings up the windshield wiper controls and wipes the windshield a single time.
As for the right stalk, it's used to shift gears, enable Autopilot and put the vehicle into park. The button can also be used to enable the vehicle's emergency brake by holding it down.
In the Model S, which the Model 3 and Model Y are likely to mimic, these functions are moved to the steering wheel and the touch screen.
The steering wheel will likely be similar to the one in the Model S. However, it'll likely be round since a major advantage of having a yoke steering wheel is to have a better view of the instrument cluster.
The upcoming steering wheel may be the one that's featured in the new Tesla Semi photos.
Like the Model S, the touch-sensitive buttons wrap around the outside of the scroll wheels on the steering wheel.
On the left side, you have the turn signals and high beam buttons, while on the right you have buttons for the windshield wipers and voice commands. On the Model 3, clicking the right scroll wheel starts a voice command, but in the Model S that's used to engage Autopilot.
There is also a button for the horn, however, unlike earlier versions of the Model S, the center of the steering wheel also functions as a horn.
Other functions that were previously available on the steering wheel stalks, such as shifting gears are moved to the center touch screen.
Since the buttons and their designs are fixed, you can't customize these buttons nor can Tesla change them through software updates.
I'd love to have seen tiny OLED screens for these buttons, similar to the Optimus keyboard that has a tiny screen for each key. That would leave room for customization or change down the road, although it would come at a cost and introduce additional complexity. Two things Tesla tries hard to reduce.
In the summer of 2021, Elon Musk said that auto shift was coming to all Tesla models, so Tesla may have been planning this change for a while now.
It's not clear whether existing vehicles with steering wheel stalks will also gain the ability to swipe to shift, but it's possible since Tesla could use the existing steering wheel stalks as a backup solution if the touch screen isn't working.
The backup solution in the Model S and likely future Model 3s and Model Ys are touch-sensitive gear buttons that appear underneath the wireless phone charger if the touch screen becomes unresponsive.
This upcoming change may be unexpected, but it's not surprising, as Tesla often tries to reduce costs by simplifying designs and processes. Tesla also tries to reuse as many parts throughout their models as possible. While the Model S and Model X use a different steering wheel, it looks like the Semi may utilize the same steering wheel as the Model 3 and Model Y.
