Polestar announces wider recall

The problems with the Polestar 2 are apparently more serious than previously assumed. In an official statement, Polestar has announced a recall campaign so the company can replace defective inverters in most of the customer vehicles delivered.

The first problems became evident at the beginning of October when there was a software error in the battery power control module, which, in very rare cases and without warning can lead to a loss of drive. According to Polestar at the time, a limited number of vehicles was affected at that time. A report in the Swedish media placed the number at 2,200 vehicles.

Now not only is the number of vehicles affected higher, but hardware components must also be replaced. The total number of affected vehicles delivered to customers is 4,586.

There is also another problem with defective high-voltage coolant heaters (HVCH) for heating the cab and the traction battery. Here the total number of affected vehicles delivered to customers is 3,150, and these are probably included in the 4,586 units with defective inverters, which is not clear from the press release. Starting next Monday (2 November), affected customers will be contacted by email and informed about the problems, solutions and next steps. Both “hardware updates” are to take place in a joint workshop visit but Polestar has not said how long the car will have to be in the workshop.

Polestar does not mention exactly what problems were found with the inverters that convert the direct current from the battery into alternating current for the electric motors and the high-voltage heaters. At the HVCH, Polestar states that “defective parts installed in vehicles from early production must be replaced.” This suggests that at least this problem no longer exists in vehicles currently in production. Polestar has not made the same statement for inverters. Vehicles not yet delivered will have to be retrofitted before delivery, which could lead to delays in deliveries.

Once the vehicles are in the workshop, Polestar wants to install new software to activate an important function, but say that in the future, it should be possible to provide the vehicles with software updates over the air.

Update 9 March 2021: In cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Polestar is conducting a recall campaign for the Polestar 2 electric saloon in the United States. The issue is apparently the same one that struck certain examples last year in Europe and China, namely a glitch with the battery-energy control module (BECM) microprocessor that can inadvertently reset, disconnecting the high voltage system. The company has not disclosed the number of affected Polestar 2 vehicles, only that they were built between December 9, 2019, and February 4, 2021. Dealers have been informed to check all of them and update the software, which should get rid of the glitch.

insideevs.com, electrek.co, polestar.com, carscoops.com (update)