Tesla Owner Adds Physical Buttons To His Model Y, Drives Fanboys Crazy

Tesla’s minimalist design ethos has proven to be extremely popular with most of its customer base, but there are still some owners out there who wish their cars had more physical controls beyond a touchscreen. Case in point is this Model Y owner from China, who installed a button panel in his car to add some much-desired tactile feedback.

A video of the panel was shared on X by user @ray4tesla, which showed off its functionality in addition to the Tesla owner’s other modifications such as a gauge cluster and yoke steering wheel. Some of the buttons are capable of performing direct functions, while others instead serve as shortcuts to the more complex menus that can’t be operated with a single touch.

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The post mentions the man in the video made the button panel, but the craftsmanship and finishing look anything but homemade. We’d imagine it’s likely a purchasable product, but if it truly is a DIY creation, we give the owner full kudos. Regardless, that doesn’t detract from how well it integrates with the Tesla’s existing infotainment system. All it took was two screws to mount it, and one plug to connect it to the car’s computer, and it was ready for action.

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Interestingly, @ray4tesla felt the buttons defeated the purpose of Tesla‘s minimalist design language. While some of them may be a bit redundant, we’d actually argue the opposite. It’s one thing to be minimalist, but it’s another thing to be minimalist to the point where it hinders functionality. You shouldn’t need to rely on a screen for every function in the car, and these buttons just help to streamline the most commonly used functions. And at the end of the day, the twelve buttons that this panel adds is still plenty minimalist in an interior as stark as the Model Y’s.

Would you get this for your Tesla? Let us know in the comments.