2023 Polestar Polestar 2 Problems: 8 Known Issues

On the 2021-2025 Polestar Polestar 2, a recurring charging fault where a DC session initiates — the port light goes yellow then green — and then terminates within seconds, the port light turns red, and the car reports 'Charging error, please reconnect' on the display and in the app. Some cars fail on DC only and continue to accept AC, which points at the DC path; others fail on AC only, which points at the onboard charger. The severe end of the failure population is a burned or exploded DC charging fuse inside the charging module, requiring replacement of the whole assembly. Contributory conditions documented by owners include contamination or oxidation on the CCS power and communication pins, a sticky contactor in the charge path, ground-fault or PLC communication dropouts that trip the safety handshake, and pack over-temperature after repeated back-to-back fast charges, which derates or halts the session.

On the 2021-2025 Polestar Polestar 2, owners report the traction pack losing a significant percentage of state of charge while the car sits parked — well beyond normal thermal conditioning — sometimes several percent per day and in extreme cases enough to make trip planning unreliable. The cause is control modules failing to enter sleep: connectivity polling by the TCAM, the Google Built-In infotainment staying awake, remote-app or preconditioning wake events, and alarm or camera states all hold the HV system partially awake. Polestar's Technical Journal TJ 37797.1.0 (March 2026) covers a separate, related complaint: in cold weather (50°F and below) with the pack below 40%, a state-of-charge calculation error can make the indicated SOC drop about 10-15% after parking; the value shown when the car was parked is the correct one, and the reading recovers fully after the next charge. Note this is the high-voltage pack and is a separate fault path from the 12V auxiliary battery drain that leaves the car unable to wake at all.

On the 2020-2024 Polestar Polestar 2 all, the Polestar 2 was the first car to launch with Google's Android Automotive OS native (not Android Auto projection). Owners report glitches: Google Maps freezes, Spotify audio drops, Assistant unresponsive, voice commands ignored, app crashes after OTA. Most are fixed by later software updates, but the pattern is ongoing.

On the 2023 Polestar Polestar 2, on a small, tightly-dated 2023 build population the front left lower ball joint may not have been seated in the correct position before the fastening bolt was tightened, so the lower control arm can disconnect from the steering knuckle. Separation reduces the car's maneuverability and increases the risk of a crash. NHTSA campaign 23V476000 (Polestar R10245) is very small in scope — 3 vehicles in the US and 18 in Canada — but the consequence is severe enough that any 2023 Polestar 2 with a front-end knock or a steering pull should be VIN-checked before it is dismissed as a bushing noise.

On the 2021-2024 Polestar Polestar 2, a widely reported chassis noise: creaking, knocking or clonking from the top of the front struts during acceleration and braking, over bumps, turning into corners, and even when the steering wheel is turned with the car stationary. The noise traces to the upper strut mount bearing and, on some cars, the damper itself; owners have also found sway bar links contributing on rough roads. Polestar issued a technical service bulletin for confirmed creaking/knocking from the upper front suspension (NHTSA TSB document MC-10249195-0001) and released a revised upper bearing in 2024 week 20 production. The tracking thread on the owners' forum runs to eight pages, which is the clearest evidence this is a design-level problem rather than isolated build variation.

On the 2021-2025 Polestar Polestar 2, the rearview camera image fails to display when the car is shifted into reverse; drivers instead see a 'Camera is temporarily unavailable' message or a blank screen. Polestar traced it to a synchronization error between the Parking Assist Camera (PAC) and the Google-based Infotainment Head Unit (IHU), compounded by a synchronization error in the IHU's video-receiving hardware. This is the single most persistent Polestar 2 defect: the first recall (24V477) was superseded by 25V280 when the software remedy did not work, and that in turn was superseded by 25V615 (Polestar RP1069) covering roughly 27,816 vehicles after the second remedy also failed. Because the display shows no image, the condition also violates FMVSS 111 rear-visibility requirements.

On the 2021-2025 Polestar Polestar 2, because one-pedal regen does nearly all the deceleration, the Polestar 2's friction brakes are rarely used hard enough to heat up and drive off moisture. The rear discs double as the electric park brake, so residual moisture is clamped under the pad every time the car is parked. Owners report visible caliper and rotor corrosion within about six months, and in cold or coastal climates the rear pads bond to the rotor overnight — the car breaks free with a loud bang on the first move and leaves pad material welded to the disc. Repeated cycles score the rotor and can leave a sticking rear caliper. This is a heavily reported ownership problem on the platform, not a cosmetic complaint: several owners have had rear pads and rotors replaced early, some switching to ceramic pads.

On the 2021-2025 Polestar Polestar 2, excessive play where the halfshaft splines engage the wheel hub or the drive unit output produces a rhythmic click or tick that owners describe as a 'wheel of fortune' sound. It is loudest when decelerating to a stop and when transitioning between regen and coast — precisely the torque-reversal points an EV hits constantly. Polestar documented it in Technical Journal TJ 36854.1.0 (March 2024, 2021-2023 cars), which names the rear driveshafts as the likely source of ticking from the rear during low-speed deceleration and includes a reference sound file for technicians. A revised axle shaft identifiable by a large rubber damper in the middle is the released fix.