Tesla only answers inquiries from journalists in exceptional cases, but for media who still want to report, the company has a well-stocked image gallery on the Internet. As a private German observer first discovered, it was also updated over the weekend: Tesla posted a series of new pictures of its semi trailer truck, which CEO Elon Musk says should be delivered before the end of the year. The design of the cockpit can be seen well for the first time – and it aroused speculation with a view to Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla Semi minimalist inside
First customers should get the Tesla Semi later this year, in the version with a 500-mile range, CEO Musk announced in mid-August. That came as a surprise, because the electric semi-trailer was originally supposed to be produced from 2019, but Musk had postponed it to 2023 this April. His recent statements regarding the Cybertruck pickup, which is also overdue, were more specific Production at Tesla’s Texas factory in mid-2023 should go.
If the semi actually comes in 2022, it would have overtaken the cybertruck once more. The new pictures that Tesla published in its media gallery also speak for at least more concrete plans. The Cybertruck photos there seem to be from the presentation in November 2019. According to the German student @tesla_adri, who is often the first to notice something like this thanks to a script, the semi are almost all new.
Tesla reworked the Tesla Semi Press Photos. Pretty much every image is new pic.twitter.com/ab67GH65j1
— Tesla_Adri (@tesla_adri) August 28, 2022
As a result, you can now look more closely into the cockpit of the electric truck than before. With the refreshment of Model S and Model X, Tesla took his minimalism even further driven: The steering wheel was square and without the upper half to the yoke, in addition, the levers for turn signals and lights as well as gears on the left and right of it were omitted. And as you can see from the new semi images, Tesla seems to have opted for a mix between old and new here: in the cockpit there is a normal round steering wheel, but like in the premium electric cars there are no side levers.
Model 3 and Y soon without levers?
The new shots are sharp enough to recognize that the semi should be blinking like in Model S and Model X: with the help of two touch buttons on the left side of the steering wheel (or the yoke). The operation of the light also seems to have migrated to the rudder. Switching between the driving levels takes place automatically with computer intelligence on the new Model S and Model X, in addition there is the adjustment for it on the side of the touchscreen and semi-physically in the center console. These details cannot be seen in the semi photos, but should be solved in a similar way.
The 2023 Model 3/Y will also remove the left and right paddles, sliding gearshift, and touch turn signals. pic.twitter.com/WDCqcRccu2
— Chris Zheng (@ChrisZheng001) August 29, 2022
Whether the modern yoke offers practical advantages in addition to optical ones is controversial even among Tesla supporters. Along with its shape, the accommodation of both turn signal directions on one side was criticized in part, which made operation difficult when the control was turned. However, Tesla does not seem to be dissuaded. First Deliveries of Model X with Yoke in Europe before the end of the year the company has confirmed to Swiss customers, and the semi images suggest that no steering wheel stalks will become the new norm. In fact, they will also be dropped from Model 3 and Model Y next year, wrote the often well-informed observer @ChrisZheng001, although it was not entirely clear whether this is still speculation or already a rumour.
