Tesla’s new steering wheel will guess your direction

Tesla unveiled the new yoke-style wheel design last month. Photo: Tesla

Tesla’s boss Elon Musk reckons its new steering wheel will be able to work out which way a driver wants to go.

A new stalkless design that uses sensors to determine which way a driver wants to go. Whether or not the new yoke-style wheel is practical, comfortable, or even legal remains to be seen, says Europe Automotive News.

The electric vehicle maker unveiled the new wheel design last month as part of a redesign of the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.

The wheel features the same U-like shape found in many race cars. It has two scrolls, similar to what's on the Model 3 and Model Y today, but will incorporate force touch buttons to activate turn signals, high beams, the horn, Autopilot, windshield wipers and voice commands.

But the biggest change is the elimination of the drive-mode stalk which typically controls park, reverse, neutral and drive functions. The automaker plans to rely on the technology that powers its Autopilot driver-assist system to perform those tasks.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on twitter the car will "guess drive direction." And if it guesses wrong, the driver can override the command using the vehicle's touch screen.

An internal Tesla document states that, "The vehicle uses its Autopilot sensors to intelligently and automatically determine intended drive modes and select them, according to Europe Automotive News. 

"For example, if the front of Model S/X is facing a garage wall, it will detect this and automatically shift to Reverse once the driver presses the brake pedal," the document said.