Tesla Cybertruck Will Come With a Yoke and No Door Handles, Chief Designer Confirms

The Cybertruck is arguably the most anticipated vehicle launch this year, considering the delays and the 1.7 million reservations. Tesla has made several promises that the electric pickup truck would enter production “by the end of next year,” and we’re hoping this dance will finally end in 2023. One of the reasons why the Cybertruck was delayed so many times was because Tesla considered changing features and design at the last moment, which pushed the production phase even further. This has made the Cybertruck a wheeled equivalent to the horizon line: we all see it, but it moves further as we try to get nearer.

Nevertheless, this is about to change in 2023, as confirmed not only by Tesla and Elon Musk, but also by the changes in progress at Giga Texas. This is where the Cybertruck will be assembled with the help of IDRA’s 9,000-ton Giga Presses. The production line is in the tooling phase, and we expect to start calibration soon. The imminence of the production start has now been confirmed by Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen in the interview with Ryan McCaffrey on the Ride The Lightning podcast.

The two talked about the Cybertruck for the best part of the interview, although few new details were revealed. This is understandable, considering that von Holzhausen is far from having the same liberty discussing sensitive topics about Tesla as Elon Musk does. But then again, Musk’s credibility is at an all-time low, especially when talking about future products. For this purpose, we’re happy that von Holzhausen offered a glimpse into what we can expect from the upcoming electric truck.

Tesla’s chief designer confirmed that the Cybertruck design is now finalized, which means the production can start. Before you rejoice, note that von Holzhausen also stated that Tesla is not shy about making changes as it sees fit. Like all other Tesla vehicles, the Cybertruck is a rolling project, and changes are implemented around the clock under the hood, even though, on the outside, it seems like nothing has changed. Nevertheless, Franz is certain that the Cybertruck production line will start working this summer and will achieve volume levels by the end of the year.

One thing that von Holzhausen thinks “makes a lot of sense” is the yoke steering, as we’ve seen on the refreshed Model S and Model X introduced in 2021. The yoke steering was a very polarizing design choice, especially as Tesla does not offer progressive steering on the two models. This forces drivers to contort their arms, trying to rotate something that isn’t round.

“I think that the yoke makes a lot of sense; once you experience it, it’s a great driving experience. Once you combined with Autopilot, it makes the whole kind of user experience and the interior cockpit simpler and cleaner, and so yeah, we’re looking at the yoke there too,” von Holzhausen said during the interview.

Nevertheless, Tesla customers don’t see things as clearly as Tesla’s designer because the EV maker conceded and now offers a round steering wheel option for the two models. Hopefully, the Cybertruck will provide a round steering wheel too.

Von Holzhausen talked about another controversial design choice on the Cybertruck: handleless doors. Because Tesla didn’t want to cut holes in the ultra-hard cold-rolled stainless steel door panel, an automatic door opening was designed instead of regular handles. This works similarly on the Model X, where front doors automatically pop open when approaching the car.

Von Holzhausen also talked about the stainless steel finish of the Cybertruck body and how scratches will be removed. He also hinted at some “unannounced features,” saying they would be a pleasant surprise for everyone. Of course, there were other topics besides the Cybertruck discussed during the hour-long interview, so we encourage you to listen to the podcast attached below.