Thanks to a video posted by Larry Lee on Twitter, a Model S equipped with an electric rotating center screen at the factory was spotted in the wild. In the video, we can see Mr. Lee tilting the display from the middle to the left and then to the right by tapping on a button on the screen. Please note that the electric front load compartment (also known as the "trunk") seen in the video is an aftermarket modification.
The rotatable central screen represents a small improvement in the quality of life for Tesla owners. The display is not stationary, and its position is not visible to both the driver and the passenger, but can be moved, for example, when the driver is operating the vehicle, or when the passenger is parking, they can get the best view.
Tesla's rotating screen has a strange history. While the feature has long been in the form of aftermarket modifications, Tesla's website said last year that a center display with a "left-right tilt" would appear on its updated Model S and Model X cars. However, just a few months later, the product page was updated with references to the feature removed, as Tesla Canada reported at the time (although it noted that the feature had already been discovered several times in the wild at the time).
Even more confusing, a recent teardown shows that the Model S already has most of the hardware needed to provide a rotating screen, though
There is no motor that actually moves it. This has led to speculation that until now, shortages of components have prevented Tesla from providing this feature on its cars.
In a response to his initial tweet, Lee confirmed that the rotating display was not an after-sales modification but "from a Tesla factory," with the Model S in the video delivered on April 29. Ryan McCaffrey, host of Tesla podcast Ride the Lightning, recently tweeted that the latest Model S and Model X cars that came off the production line from the Tesla factory are equipped with hardware that supports this feature. If you're lucky, this should mean that rotating the screen is about to become standard for future Model S and Model X Teslas.
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