Tesla and the cloche wheel
The NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - recently released a new comment regarding the legality of the controversial steering design introduced on Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X MY 2021; in fact, the two models were presented with a totally revolutionary version of the classic steering wheel, going to resemble the yoke of an airplane rather than the classic steering wheel of a road car.The updated versions of the top models of the Californian house were long overdue, even from 2016 for Model S; this new update unifies the look of the interior across the entire range of the Elon Musk house, presenting a horizontal orientation screen ideal for enjoying the multimedia contents offered by the integrated system in the car.
NHTSA is aware of the release of the new steering wheel design by Tesla and is in contact with the manufacturer to establish the actual legality of the bizarre steering, carefully analyzing the possible advantages and disadvantages that could be directly linked to this new shape; no real timeline was given regarding the verification process.
The web has welcomed this design in a very particular way, dividing the audience into two distinct areas; there are those who do not consider it an intelligent idea, relying on the lack of practicality in maneuvering or during highway travel while on the other hand there are those who understand Tesla's strategy more fully and know that the car can also park alone if you are in trouble with the maneuver and through the continuous updates of Autopilot, it will also drive in total autonomy very soon, according to Elon Musk also at the end of 2021.
Nevertheless, a spy video surfaced on Twitter a few days ago showed a Model S MY 2021 equipped with a normal round steering wheel, implying that this new design will not be mandatory for everyone and that whoever wants to can still - perhaps - choose the classic circular shape we are used to.
The coolest – and strangest – car dashboards ever
To paraphrase Carly Simon, when it comes to dashboards, nobody does it better than Citroen. Or at least, nobody did, because Citroen’s dashboards aren’t what they used to be. Look at the genius and majesty of this Citroen GSA, complete with PRN (‘Rain, Route, Night’ in French) satellites and a ‘cyclops’ eye speedometer. Note the single-spoke steering wheel, an idea dating back to the DS of 1955.