2025 Polestar Polestar 3 Electrical Problems

Unable to access brand new vehicle for several days. Would not respond to any keys (including the app). First tow company didn't have proper equipment. Spoke with Polestar support two days later and they sent out another tow company after trying some troubleshooting they suggested. Tow truck driver was able to get doors to open after jumping the 12v battery (which others have reported problems on). Upon starting vehicle, received electric system warning. Recommended to tow to nearest dealership.

NHTSA ID

11744550

Incident

Jun 12, 2026

On-Board Charger not working on L2 charge

NHTSA ID

11741511

Incident

May 30, 2026

Failed to schedule recall RP1063 repair with dealer Boston Polestar (617) 925-7300 for my Polestar 3. I contacted Boston Polestar several times to schedule the recall RP1063 repair, but I was unable to get an appointment. The call operator redirected me to the Polestar service department, which was always busy. The operator left notes for the Polestar manager and promised I would receive a call back, but no one called back. Please help. Best, Jun

NHTSA ID

11725801

Incident

Mar 13, 2026

The vehicle has experienced repeated failures of the high-voltage charging system that prevent normal charging. The first failure occurred at approximately 511 miles, with warning messages related to the charging/high-voltage system and inability to charge reliably using normal AC charging equipment. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer/service center and the issue was confirmed. The vehicle was out of service from December 1, 2025 to January 9, 2026 for diagnosis/repair. After being returned, the same charging-related failure reoccurred. The vehicle again went back to the authorized service center and has been out of service from February 10, 2026 to March 4, 2026 and counting. (the issue remains unresolved / parts are on order). Total time out of service is approximately 63 days for the same defect. Current mileage is approximately 1,070 miles. In addition, when attempting to charge using DC fast charging, charging performance was also abnormal. The DC fast charging rate was significantly reduced and it took approximately one hour to add only a small amount of range/energy. This defect creates a safety risk because the vehicle cannot be charged reliably, increasing the risk of being stranded without the ability to safely operate the vehicle as intended, including being unable to travel to a safe location if the battery becomes depleted. The authorized dealer/service center has reproduced/confirmed the problem and the affected components are available for inspection at the service facility upon request.

NHTSA ID

11721934

Incident

Dec 1, 2025

Upon purchase of the vehicle, the Onboard AC Charger (officially: "GHCA") failed on the first charge at home, utilizing Volvo (sister company) equipment that has charged another vehicle successfully for 5+ years. The equipment was confirmed still functional on the other vehicle after failure of the Polestar's on-board equipment. The part was replaced during a lengthy service visit, and the failure has reoccurred less than 3 months later with a repair pending for 6+ weeks. Unexplained electrical faults are always a safety concern. Vehicle on-road safety is compromised when pre-planned charging stops are suddenly and unexpectedly unavailable due to the failure of on-board equipment. Low state of charge conditions and being forced to drive on reserve power to arrive at a DC charging point leaves the potential to run out of power in traffic. Large numbers of failures on Polestar 3 and platform-sibling Volvo EX90 are rampant, causing parts shortages. Polestar/Volvo have been aware of this issue for more than a year and have provided no remedy or even communication on the subject. Their negligence to protect consumers needs to be mitigated.

NHTSA ID

11721755

Incident

Jan 22, 2026

Previous on board charger (GHCA) failed and was replaced in January of 2026. In February I noticed the car was charging slowly on a 48A home charger (car showed 5.4kw at 22A). I unplugged the charger, waited a minute, and plugged it back in. The car then reinitialized charging and showed 11kw at 48A. The car then started making audible electrical crackling noises. I have a video in which you can hear the crackling. Is this a fire hazard?

NHTSA ID

11720192

Incident

Feb 24, 2026

AC charging has failed for second time. OBC (on board charger) replaced at 2000 miles. Need another one again at 3500 miles.

NHTSA ID

11719255

Incident

Feb 17, 2026

The contact owns a 2025 Polestar Polestar 3. The contact stated that while driving approximately 3 MPH in a parking lot, as he depressed the brake pedal, to slow down the vehicle did not slow down. The contact stated no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle jumped a curb and ran over some shrubbery. The contact stated that the passenger side front and rear doors had scraped a light pole, and then the vehicle rolled out of the parking lot and over a retaining wall. The contact stated that the vehicle landed on a sidewalk and then continued out onto a road below the parking lot and finally stopped. The contact stated that a warning had illuminated that his rear driver's side tire had deflated. The contact stated that the lower front bumper had been damaged, and some plastic parts of the driver's side wheel well had broken off. The contact had no personal injuries. The contact was able to drive the vehicle back to the parking lot and had the vehicle towed to a collision shop. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a dealer for any diagnostic tests. The vehicle had not yet been repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 745.

NHTSA ID

11715540

Incident

Feb 2, 2026

Mileage

745 mi

Onboard AC charging has failed 3 times in 4 months. Each time the GHCA has been replaced with a new charger. When the GHCA shorts out it only impacts AC charging leaving everything else working normally. DC charging is not impacted and works normally. Each time the issue with the GHCA has been verified and confirmed by the Polestar service center in Princeton, NJ in September 2025, October 2025 & December 2025. When the issue occurs there is a loud pop and the AC charging message changes to waiting. It does not go out of the waiting state until the GHCA unit is replaced

NHTSA ID

11714730

Incident

Sep 10, 2025

The car made a loud pop while charging then it would not charge again. The Pop also send a surge to the breaker popping it.

NHTSA ID

11713567

Incident

Jan 26, 2026

My vehicle has experienced repeated and unresolved software/firmware failures that cause loss of essential vehicle functionality and repeated vehicle immobilization. Since purchase, the vehicle has been taken out of service multiple times for software-related repairs, including firmware updates and system resets, yet the problems persist and the vehicle cannot be relied upon to operate normally. The failures are not cosmetic or infotainment-only; they affect core vehicle systems and overall operability. After service visits, the vehicle is often returned with the same or new software-related issues, requiring additional service visits and extended downtime. The cumulative time out of service now exceeds 30 days. An authorized Polestar dealer principal, who also serves on the brand’s national leadership board, explained to me that U.S.-spec vehicles are running materially different firmware than vehicles sold in other markets. According to this explanation, Chinese-developed firmware was removed for U.S. regulatory reasons and replaced with U.S.-developed firmware that was not fully validated at the time of sale. As a result, U.S. customers are effectively acting as beta testers for unstable software. Because modern EV software controls safety-critical vehicle functions, a vehicle that repeatedly fails, becomes immobilized, or cannot be reliably restored to service after software updates presents a safety and reliability concern. The vehicle’s unpredictable behavior and lack of dependable operation raise concerns beyond inconvenience and indicate a potential systemic defect affecting U.S.-spec vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11711368

Incident

May 27, 2025

Onboard charger (OBC), which is the unit that converts AC power (what home wall outlets have) to DC power (what the battery holds/uses has failed 3 times now in less than a year of ownership. Brand new car, leased from Polestar. 3/21/25 - Picked up car from Polestar Lisle, as soon as I got home from the dealership, it didn’t work out of the gate, couldn’t home charge. Ever. 5/8/25 - OBC replaced (first time) 6/2/25 - OBC replaced (second time), can’t remember when it actually failed. But this was the second repair date. 11/19/25 - OBC failed a 3rd time, first available repair date 12/26. 12/26/25 came and went, no part, no ETA. Meanwhile, I’m stuck having to pay about 3x the cost to charge at various superchargers/DC fast chargers since it can DC charge only. Paying a lease for an electric car that I can’t charge at home. Each time it breaks, I have to spend a lot of my time driving to and from the dealership for repairs, taking various less desirable loner cars (usually a Volvo XC40 or XC60). Just a big investment of my time (driving to and from dealership about a dozen times over the past 9 months), and financial cost of charging at 3x the rate, essentially at my own expense. Frustrating that a literally brand new car has had 3 pretty critical failures in less than a year of ownership and all the costs are dumped on the consumer. Paying full price for a car I can’t fully use (can’t charge at home, have to spend hours of my time just parked at charging stations)

NHTSA ID

11707288

Incident

Mar 21, 2025

There were multiple cases while driving at speed where the driver's display unexpectedly and without warning turned off. I was not able to see the car's speed or gearing until the next time the car was reset.

NHTSA ID

11706772

Incident

Apr 2, 2025

I have had multiple issues with my Polestar 3. Most notably, the vehicle lost all propulsion at highway speeds. My safety was heavily jeopardized as I had to merge across multiple lanes of traffic to reach the shoulder. On the day of the incident, the car's propulsion stopped working 4 separate times. The Polestar service center did nothing other than reset the software and tell me the issue was not repeatable. Additionally, the Polestar 3 has consistently electrical issues. I've had doors handles close on my fingers, the rear hatch close on my head, I had a period of time where the driver door did not open, and many basic elements like handsfree calling and bluetooth fail regularly. I also get repeated phantom front-end collision issues where the car automatically jams on the brakes when there is no actual concern for front-end collision. Lastly, like many Polestar 3 owners, I frequently have had multiple failures of the Level 2 Charging port. For the 2nd time, I am not able to charge at home or at any other Level 2 Charger. And frequent requests from Polestar to alleviate this go unheeded. I've had to spend a ton of time and money on Level 3 charging (like Electrify America) rather than the charger I paid to install at home. Overall, Polestar 3 has been an awful experience and the vehicle should not have been released. I'm effectively a beta tester for a substandard and unsafe vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11701760

Incident

Jul 24, 2025

The malfunction I experienced involved the vehicle's electronic safety system, which caused the brake to apply suddenly and without my input. The service center was "UNABLE TO DUPLICATE" the specific fault during their inspection and found "NO CODES STORED," noting that the problem was intermittent and not verifiable by the technician. The car is, however, available for inspection.   My safety and the safety of others were put at extreme risk because the car suddenly and unexpectedly applied the brakes while I was driving in the middle of a street, creating an immediate and severe danger of being rear-ended by other traffic.   The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by the dealer. The technician's notes explicitly state: "UNABLE TO DUPLICATE, NO CODES STORED," and the issue was recorded as "NO PROBLEM FOUND AT THIS TIME."   The vehicle has only been inspected by a technician at the authorized Polestar service center. There has been no inspection by police, insurance representatives, or any corporate representative from the manufacturer concerning this safety defect.   There were no warning lamps or messages immediately prior to the failure on November 13, 2025.

NHTSA ID

11700146

Incident

Nov 12, 2025

Date of Incident: [XXX] US Eastern Time Location: [XXX] Incident Type: Safety defect and vehicle malfunction due to Sudden Unintended Acceleration with multiple safety system failures On the date referenced above, while traveling at approximately 5 mph and preparing to park in a gravel parking lot, I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal to bring the vehicle to a complete stop using the normal deceleration process (with One-Pedal Mode disabled). Instead of the expected behavior, the vehicle: 1.Suddenly and violently accelerated without input 2.Drove straight into a parked vehicle at high speed, completely displacing it 3.Continued accelerating despite my attempts to control it 4.Required multiple brake applications before finally stopping 5.Traveled approximately 270 degrees across the parking lot while I desperately tried to avoid additional collisions 6.There were ~6 women that had been standing exactly where the incident happened only a few minutes before the accident, had I arrived earlier I could have hurt/killed these pedestrians Critical Safety System Failures During This Incident: •No pre-collision warnings or alerts activated •No collision avoidance sensors engaged •No automatic emergency braking deployed •No warning messages appeared on the vehicle display •No audible warning sounds of any kind •No air bag activation after my car rammed into the parked car This represents a catastrophic failure of multiple redundant safety systems that are fundamental to the Polestar 3's safety design. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11692656

Incident

Sep 4, 2025

The Polestar 3 failed while driving with my family on 8/16/25. It had a propulsion failure (with "turtle mode") and it would only go 6 mph or less and would not go up a hill. With nowhere safe to pull over while on the hill, I had to perform an unsafe maneuver to get the car down a hill to a safe place. Once parked it showed dashes on the dashboard and would not go into drive or reverse. The car was towed--it could not be placed in neutral so had to be dragged up the platform. It was in the service center for 24 days and returned to me without anything fixed. I learned 5 days ago that the service center had requested replacement of the VCU which was denied by Polestar engineering. I feel the car was returned to me in an unsafe condition. The failure happened again recently but fortunately it was parked and would not start. No warning lights, just dashes again on the dashboard. The vehicle has now been at the repair center for 16 days now (40 days total)--the service center has requested VCU replacement which Polestar engineering has denied again. I have requested my options for buy back / lease termination--I was told it would take 4-6 weeks and customer service is not responding to my inquiries now.

NHTSA ID

11690676

Incident

Aug 16, 2025

The onboard charger has failed twice now in less than 1,800 miles. Bought the car new and it has been in the shop this time for 31 days and parts are not available to fix it until at least Sept. 30th. Also, Volvo Marin never seems to have loaner cars available. Horrible experience with this dealership and car.

NHTSA ID

11689031

Incident

Aug 28, 2025

Leased a new 2025 Polestar 3 and took delivery Dec 28, 2024. I expected some growing pains as it’s a new car model and relatively new brand, but have had to take it to the dealer and/or call support almost monthly. Most of the issues are resolved via resetting some system, but the major issue has been charging at home. Around March I had an issue where it wouldn’t charge at home and the car stayed with the dealer for 3 weeks (I had a loaner) to replace hardware. Now I’m seeing the same issue occurring which appears as: -Charger and car plug lights are correct (white on charger, green on car) -Car stays “Initializing” longer than normal -Either “Waiting” or “Error” appear onscreen and the car doesn’t charge I am stuck calling the dealer to solve this problem and in the meantime my car won’t charge (undriveable).

NHTSA ID

11685476

Incident

Sep 5, 2025

Car does not AC charge

NHTSA ID

11677366

Incident

Jul 26, 2025

Charging on AC power failed. Needed to replace GHCA at dealer, and happened two more times, so 3 trips to the dealer to get a new charging component. Lack of charge left us stranded.

NHTSA ID

11675494

Incident

Jul 20, 2025

Vehicle has had onboard charger failure twice

NHTSA ID

11675357

Incident

Apr 10, 2025

AC Charging Fail. Unable to use home charger to charge car even after polestar took car in to replace OBC.

NHTSA ID

11675225

Incident

May 27, 2025

Vehicle stopped charging on level 2 alternating current chargers

NHTSA ID

11675085

Incident

May 21, 2025

Unable to use AC charging, faulty on board charger module. Occurred at 500 miles/2 weeks of ownership. No warnings.

NHTSA ID

11675066

Incident

Jul 14, 2025