Polestar 1

Make
Polestar
Segment
Coupe

Polestar, in coordination with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), has announced a recall of its first-ever model, the Polestar 1 grand touring luxury coupe.

According to the government agency's documents, 66 model years 2020 and 2021 examples are affected by an issue involving the high-voltage battery system.

Polestar traced the problem to a supplier, China-based Forever Energy, but sister brand Volvo initially discovered the issue. Both Polestar and Volvo are owned by Chinese automaker Geely.

Volvo warned Polestar of the issue last September. The precise cause of the problem is not described in the documents, but it's stated that "defective high-voltage battery cells may cause the battery to overheat when fully charged."

The problem is made even worse because there is a risk of a potential fire, and owners will receive no warnings before the battery cells could overheat. A solution to the problem involves a temporary fix that involves downloading a software update to help minimize risks and to ensure owners can still charge their cars normally.

The update prevents the battery from fully charging to eliminate that overheating and fire risk. The downside is that this will affect the all-electric driving range but not the regular operation of the combustion engine. The permanent solution to the defect is more drastic.

Remember, the limited edition Polestar 1 has a plug-in hybrid powertrain consisting of a 2.0-liter supercharged and turbocharged inline-four engine and a pair of electric motors. Total output comes to 600 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. Each electric motor contributes 116 hp.

Polestar says it will have to remove and replace all of the defective hardware.

However, this work won't get underway at dealerships until the end of the second quarter of next year, specifically June 2023. In the meantime, those 66 affected owners can download the software update.

Polestar has already begun notifying owners of vehicles produced between September 11, 2019, and May 12, 2021. The NHTSA documents do not state whether there have been any related injuries, deaths, or crashes.