Polestar 2 Recalled Over Iffy Head Unit Software

The Sino-Swedish automaker, which is more Chinese than Swedish after Volvo sold a majority stake in the company back in May 2024, received the first customer complaint back in March 2021. For some reason or another, the EV-centric brand didn't take this problem seriously until the federal watchdog started asking questions in May 2024.

On May 15, the automaker finally started to review customer inputs from the US market. A little over a month later, the safety boffins at Polestar acknowledged the increased risk of a collision resulted from the lack of a rearview camera image. Polestar then decided to recall said vehicles, and the remedy comes in the form of updated software for the infotainment system.

Said update was uploaded to VIDA (short for Vehicle Information and Diagnostics for Aftersales) on July 1, meaning that dealers nationwide can update said vehicles. An over-the-air update is available as well. In production, however, Polestar 2 vehicles will receive said update after July 19. As for the affected population of vehicles in the US market, Polestar estimates 25,825 units produced for the 2021 to 2024 model years through January 19, 2024.

Neither Polestar nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mention how many customer complaints alleging no rearview camera image were received from 2 owners in the United States market. Owner notifications will be mailed on or about August 15. In the meantime, owners should run the 17-character VIN on Polestar's website to confirm whether their vehicles are included in this recall or not. The vehicle identification number should start with Y.

Originally front-wheel drive by default, 2 went rear-wheel drive in 2023 for the 2024 model year. Based on the Compact Modular Architecture of the Volvo EX40 (formerly XC40 Recharge) and EC40 (formerly C40 Recharge), the 2 is quite a hard sell in many respects, especially when compared to its direct rival from Tesla, Inc.

Starting price? $49,900 is the list price for the Long Range Single Motor in the United States, while Tesla charges $38,990 for the Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive or $47,490 for the Model 3 Long Range All-Wheel Drive.  Higher up the spectrum, the Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor is $55,300 excluding offers and taxes, while Tesla wants $54,990 for the ridiculously quick Model 3 Performance All-Wheel Drive.

Driving range is another drawback of the Chinese model with Swedish roots. Think up to 320 and 276 miles (515 and 444 kilometers), respectively, on the EPA's test cycle versus 272, 341, and 303 miles (438, 549, and 488 kilometers) for the Model 3. Zero to 60 acceleration favors the four-door sedan from Fremont, California as well.

Polestar delivered approximately 54,600 electric vehicles in 2023 versus a whopping 1,808,581 for Tesla. Given the aforementioned, the Geely-controlled marque still has plenty of things to do until it can dream of challenging Tesla, Inc.