Tesla's New Touchscreen-Based Gear Selector Shown On Video

After the unveil of the Tesla Inc TSLA Model S and X refresh, many were quick to point out the lack of a gear selector. Normally present behind the steering wheel, the stalk used to select forward, reverse, park or neutral was missing from the refreshed vehicles. 

When asked on Twitter, CEO Elon Musk said in January that the new vehicles would intelligently select what gear the car needed based on the context of the surroundings.

The vehicles will use Tesla's Autopilot hardware including cameras and ultrasonic sensors to determine, for instance, if the car is in a parking spot and needs to back out.

Users can override the car's automatic selection with controls on the 17-inch center touch screen. 

Now the new on screen options for gear selection are being shown for the first time. Luckily, it looks very intuitive, easy to use, and easy to access. Considering these controls will only be used when the car is stopped changing gears, it shouldn't be an issue for users to glance at the screen.

The controls are located on the very left of the screen, closest to the driver. A quick swipe up or down will switch to forward or reverse direction.

Going by pictures of the new yoke steering wheel, it seems the controls may also be accessible there as well. But Tesla and Musk's hope is that the car will be intelligent enough in that in most situations, the driver won't need to interact with either of these options and can simply let the car do all the gear changing.

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Photo courtesy of Tesla.