Tesla's Controversial Steering Wheel Changes and Quality Concerns

Tesla's new design with buttons on the steering wheel has led to dissatisfaction among consumers, impacting Tesla's JD Power and Consumer Reports ratings.

### Impact of Tesla's Removal of Stalks on Consumer Reports and J.D. Power Rankings
* 🚘  Tesla's decision to replace traditional stalks with buttons on the steering wheel for Model S, Model X, and Model 3 has received **negative feedback from consumers**.
* 👀  According to a study by J.D. Power, the absence of physical controls on the dash leads to **more time with eyes off the road** as drivers search for functions.
* 📊  J.D. Power and Consumer Reports rankings heavily influence **consumer perception and purchasing decisions**.
* 🛠️  Quality is not just about things breaking, but also includes **usability issues that consumers face**.
* 🔍  Tesla's quality issues in the survey are related to the **difficulty of operating the relocated controls**.
* ↕️  In emergency situations or while driving, finding and using the **new controls** can be challenging.
* 🔒  Rivian and other EV manufacturers have caught up to Tesla in quality rankings due to the **usability problems caused by the new control layout**.

So much of the test.
The origin story was that its technology was great.
It was a great product, but they've made some tweaks that on specific models.
I think it's Model X and S after a certain year and the refreshed Model
three that actually have not gone down well with the Tesla owners.
Yeah, that's right. It did start in 2021 with S and X, it's
now migrated to three, which means it's hitting the mainstream buyer.
And the mainstream buyer does not like giving up their turn signal stocks.
What Elon is trying to do is trying to go stock three so you lose the turn
signal stock. Then you also lose the windshield wiper
stalk on the other side. All of those have migrated to being
buttons on the steering wheel. So as regular viewers of Bloomberg
Technology know, I have a model Y which I pay for myself, but it has the stalks.
The one thing I'd observe is like the

screen in the middle.
There are no, there are no dials or buttons on the dash.
I spend a lot of time looking at the screen and reading the JD report.
I think that was a big point that many of the respondents made as well.
Absolutely, JD Power said. The author of the study told me that
that the consumers report that they have much more eyes off the road time because
they're hunting around for these, you know, ordinary functions.
This isn't high level tech that people are looking for it.
They just want to beep the horn because something happened in front of them and
they can't find it. We won't get into the whole idea about
the future of Tesla and full self-driving wear to Elon Musk's mind.
You won't need to pay attention anyway, but you've covered this industry for
such a long time. You've written brilliant pieces.
The product level. How impactful are these JD reports?
Like does the average consumer pick it

up and go. Wow, this will inform whether
or not I get a Tesla? Absolutely.
J.D. Power and Consumer Reports, those two
measures are the ones that carry the most weight with consumers.
You can see it in the automakers' advertising.
We all know, you know, run the J.D. Power seal if they're one of the
preferred brands. And Tesla has always been the highest
ranked. Now, all the other EVs, Rivian, the legacy
automakers, they've all caught up with Tesla, primarily because of these
rudimentary functions that have been put on the steering wheel and taken away
from their usual locations. In the story, there's a chart of
problems per 100 vehicles, but it's also a quality survey.
Can we just quickly talk about the quality part of this discussion?
Yeah. So I mean, quality is defined in a
couple of ways. One is things that break that don't go
well, but also quality in the survey now.

reflects what consumers are having
trouble operating. It might be functioning as designed, but
if the driver can't figure out how to use it, then that's a quality
problem. And so that's what's showing up on Tesla
here. These are things the buttons work if you
can find them, but can you find them in an emergency situation?
And others have pointed out if you're in a roundabout, the way the turn signals
work is a couple of directional arrows on the steering wheel.
You're in a roundabout and you're in the middle of it.
Your steering wheel's upside down and you don't know which arrow to push.

Tesla’s Design Changes Confuse Drivers, Undercut EV Quality

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Tesla's Controversial Changes to Car Design

Tesla's Model S, X, and the refreshed Model 3 have made tweaks that are unpopular with owners, particularly the removal of turn signal stocks and windshield wiper stalk.

The transition to button controls on the steering wheel has led to complaints about increased time with eyes off the road.

The JD Power report has highlighted consumer dissatisfaction with the new design, raising questions about its impact on the average consumer.

Tesla has been the top-ranked brand in J.

Power and Consumer Reports, but now faces competition from other EV makers.

The traditional automakers and Rivian have caught up with Tesla in quality ratings, partly due to changes in the steering wheel design.

Quality is measured by both problems per 100 vehicles and overall survey satisfaction.

Challenges with Operating Tesla's Features

Tesla's design poses quality problems for consumers who struggle to operate its features, especially in emergency situations.

The location and functionality of buttons, as well as the use of directional arrows for turn signals, have been highlighted as particularly problematic.