Tesla is saying all yokes have the worm and won’t replace them.
When Tesla first replaced the steering wheel on the Model S and Model X with a yoke, it was mainly criticized over its functionality, or lack thereof. And rightfully so, as yokes have no business in cars. But Elon’s yokes actually have another oddity now known as the “Tesla worm” and it’s starting to frustrate owners.
It isn’t as gross as it sounds but it is weird. For some reason, almost every Tesla owner’s yoke has an odd worm-shaped bump in the airbag cover between the “L” and “A.” Model S and Model X owners on Reddit claim that Tesla is not only aware of these so-called Tesla worms but won’t replace any yokes with them because they all have it.
There’s no official answer as to what the “worm” is but some owners seem to think that it’s the airbag cutaway that can be seen through the faux-leather cover. Since the worm is exactly the same on every yoke, that explanation seems likely. Some are more subtle than others, with some looking like a wrinkle in the material and others looking like a full-on Snickers vein. Either way, it’s unacceptable in a six-figure electric luxury car.
Peter Holderith
What’s interesting is that the worm is still there even after Tesla developed a new version of the yoke to replace faulty ones. Many owners of the original version F yoke noticed peeling faux leather on the grips, some of which after just 10,000 miles. So Tesla developed a newer version H to replace those peeling yokes but the worm still remains.
Obviously, a little visual wrinkle in the steering wheel isn’t the biggest of deals but it must be frustrating to spend almost $100,000 or more on a luxury car and have strange, almost gross looking quality issues. Especially when the automaker is telling customers that there’s nothing to be done about it.
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