Yeah, I just got the call from my wife, "it happened again." So just got done taking it in for the third time in three months. Oddly enough, I have an interview with the NYT Business tomorrow to talk about EV ownership.

 

FWIW not EV specific, the (third party, not Volvo) support engineer that resolved this for me the 2nd time told me they see this a lot on ICE Volvos, so he was familiar with it, I just had to show him were the TCAM battery is because it was his first Polestar!

 

Oh I know it's not. Our friends that have Teslas have had no issues. I had no issues with our 2011 Volt. It's super frustrating and hard not to get down on the whole ownership experience.

 

LMAO. 😂😂 Really.

12 Problems With Tesla Nobody Talks About

Tesla has done a lot for the EV industry, but owners are still facing countless problems with the brand's vehicles.

www.hotcars.com

Teslas have been plagued with many, many problems, from poor body part fit and finish, to their notorious issues with car fires that has cost the lives of a number of people…as well as burning down some house.

So, I’ll,, take the TCAM problem any day of the week, over all the Tesla problems.

 

Yea, so why no mention of Volvo? I know, as fact, they have, or had similar TCAM issues and probably in far greater numbers than the P2. I am willing to bet that the TCAM found in Volvo is the same TCAM found in the P2.

 

I totally agree we should keep Tesla out of this conversation. Polestar really needs to address this issue, it's pretty widespread. An widespread issue like this can really sour people on the brand

 

Me too…but when someone brings it up, as perhaps a shining example of reliability and build quality, etc…sorry, the truth needs to be expressed. If people don’t want comparisons to other EV’s, then don’t bring other EV’s up on a Polestar forum/.

I would also add that while some people have had issues with their TCAM, some of us have not. You rarely hear from the people that have no complaints. Such is the nature of these forums - all car forums. So, what’;s the real frequency of this issue. I have two numbers - One from my metro DC area Polestar service manager, who says he’s seen 3 TCAM issues that needed to be towed in for repair, as of Sept 2022. The NHSTA numbers (for just the US) show 11 formal complaints through June/July 2022…on how many P2’s on US roads?

 

Alright guys, let's all be friends here

 

Curious, when the TCAM issue occurs for you that have seen it, is it usually after leaving the car on the charger for an extended period of time after charging? i have only had it twice, both times after I’ve left the car connected to a charger for over a day after being fully charged at 90%. I haven’t seen it since I started removing the cable soon after charging to full.

 

As a scientists, I am trained to look for correlations and patterns. In the TCAM case, it does seem to be rather random/sporadic. A while ago, I read a few articles that thought they had solved the TCAM issue…that the problem was due to a poor water seal on the shark fin (that’s where the module is). People reported failure after washing their cars, leaving out in a driving rain, etc. I’m not sure if this correlation was ever substantiated. Probably not, as sometimes it fails on cars that have never seen water.

 

Although the TCAM issue has not hit me (and pray never will), for me it's not a show stopper. I would be more worried about widespread drivetrain, battery and BDU failures like I had. Those are showstoppers. As irritating and annoying as the TCAM issue is, it's something given time Polestar will eventually fix with either updated TCAM's (hardware replacement), associated software or both

 

You know…if people on this forum that repeatedly experience TCAM issues, they might benefit the rest of us that have not yet had this issue….by writing down some parameters that were the same everytime if failed…like leaving the care being charged for a long time, etc?

 

https://jalopnik.com/faulty-module-is-locking-polestar-2-owners-out-of-their-1849704798

Jalopnik picked up the same story today too

 

The media does, what the media does best….regurgitate the same stories.

Anybody bother to watch US network (national) news these days? My wife and I do. Call it a morbid/perverted fascination. Anyway, I noticed that every single night, all three networks - ABC, CBS and NBC - have 5-7 identical reports, all on the same topic, and maybe 1-2 different feel good stories.…during the 30 minute news segment. I can watch all three networks because we get local feeds from two markets - DC and Baltimore, with all the network news being on at different times. So yeah, I need to get a life.

The lack of imagination from the three networks is just fascinating, and very predictable. . Oh, and I don’t bother with Faux, since much of it contains lies/distortions.

 

I think we can all agree that the TCAM bugs are still present >2y from when they first showed, and that these should have been fixed resolutely by now.

The TCAM issue, and recent additions of BDU issues, are the primary items that hold me back from giving an unqualified positive recommendation for Polestar. And if there are still waves of TCAM bugs reported when the EX90 and P*3 are coming out, I will choose a different group, as I can’t have faith in the reliability of the group’s products and their ability to solve such problems.

I know I’m not the only one in this regard. And Polestar and Volvo need to understand that, because if they lose fanboys like me over this issue, they’ll lose plenty more potential customers who aren’t so smitten.

 

Related but not really, just to throw something to the mix...

A friend of mine, works as a mechanic at Volvo, we met up for a chat not long ago, he was in town for training and drove a borrowed car from the dealer, XC40, some sort of hybrid maybe? irrelevant, it was a smaller Volvo not EV. We went to he's car for some reason, and he could not lock it. I said HEY, that's your TCAM issue, and he couldn't but agree (we left the car unlocked for the night), this led to discussion about TCAM issues. He told that they are more common on the larger Volvos, not so much on the smaller cars, and in their workshop really few Polestars with any issues in general compared to Volvos. I would also expect that the Volvos outnumber the Polestars 1000:1 in the sales figures, so you would expect to see the same ratio in the workshop.

I'd expect that the TCAM is shared between all car models of the same design age, be that V or P, and the fact that the issues are more commonly seen on the larger cars would most likely come down to the fact that the larger cars often are "better" equipped so more often using the TCAM features and by that percentage wise more prone to present the issues, especially here in Finland where the cars are insanely expensive in comparison.

As a conclusion, TCAM issues are somewhat common within the P & V family regardless of powertrain, and if Polestar is not working on resolving the issues, I would bet good money that Volvo really would like to see the TCAM issues resolved and gone, but I'm also quite sure Volvo does not manufacture the TCAM in house, so they can't just "fix" the issue if it actually is an issue within the TCAM module.

 

I'm terrified of tempting fate here, so this is said with trepidation and in the full knowledge that mine will now break.

I'm a very early owner (VIN in the 3000 series), and for the first period of ownership, my TCAM was the biggest nightmare you could imagine. My car would have no data service 90% of the time - I'd go whole weeks without working data.

BUT... I never once had a problem with keys, charge rate, any of the other stuff, and I never actually had my TCAM replaced - the dealer just kept resetting it via VIDA.

This went on and on until P2.0 and than boom... Not a single outage, not one. Mine has been absolutely rock solid ever since. I've never lost comms, never had keys or PAK not working, it's been flawless. All subsequent OTA updates went fine as well.

I got the 2.whatever it was update with CarPlay and did not have any of the problems that other people had. Mine was never rolled back, nor updated since. I'm still on the 'bad' version that really shouldn't be working properly. When the car was in for some rattles fixing*, I explicitly asked them not to do anything that would change the software because I was 100% happy with it.

This, to me, proves this must be a hardware issue. I think that, ironically, the newer TCAMs are actually less stable than the original one.


(* of course they didn't... visit six and counting,)

 

and I assume you wouldn't want to update to 2.3.1 / 2.4 to validate this is indeed a hardware issue?

I think I saw here and on the official FB group some with early cars complaining about connectivity / TCAM on latest 2.3.x releases (?)
This raises the question whether this is a hardware or a software one - probably only Volvo or Polestar will be able to answer...

In any case I am on 2.3.1 for a week now, connectivity is touch wood, App works (I learned to force stop it to get it working well), PAK not working and won't bother to until 2.4/2.5. Charing goes to 100% so I limited it from my ohme
car is amazing!

Side note - my BMW X3 2019 has also connectivity issues and was asked for a recall on I believe the same subject a month ago

 

For me the most sour aspect of this really long dragging issue is that … a) Polestar will not make a public announcement to the tune that they know it is a problem and they will take care of this issue whether a car still in warranty or not …. b) I cannot understand how Volvo/Polestar is not able make a new TCAM module if the old one is bad or badly designed ..
whether they make the module themselves or not …. Some companies must replace battery modules they don’t manufacture …. Here it’s a silly small TCAM module.

To me, it smells like nickel diming the customers … too bad, as the car is otherwise really really good.

 

Both Polestar and Volvo know and have acknowledged the TCAM issue, even if you don’t think they have. My local service manager told me they are very well aware of this issue, and doing what they can…but I suspect, with Polestar’s limited resources, they are leaning heavily on big brother, Volvo, to sort this out for them? As far as solving this problem…well, I personally think there is more than one cause/source…and one or more of these issues is INTERMITTENT. If the module just stopped working, that would be easy to diagnose and then replace with a new one. Intermittent electrical problems are extremely difficult to track down. Believe me, with my own company, we had to deal with such issues.

Finally, to suggest that Polestar (or Volvo) doesn’t care, or want to fix this issue is utter nonesense. Total rubbish. They know this issue will, and is hurting sales. This is fact. Especially for Polestar, negative reports like this are bad news for any new company trying to make it in this competitive market.


*
What Does Polestar Say About the TCAM Issues?
In May 2022, Polestar issued a technical service bulletin (TSB), NHTSA ID number 10214313. This addresses the fact that the vehicle information diagnostics for aftersales (VIDA) system created by Volvo for its car dealerships cannot maintain a connection. It also covers loss of connectivity in general and TCAM rebooting.
The TSB relates to the 2020-2022 Polestar 1 and Polestar 2 models, both of which are manufactured with either a single or dual motor.
Polestar has also issued online manuals that tell Polestar 1 and 2 owners what to do if they have internet connection issues. Essentially all these do is walk owners through the process of rebooting their network and internet connections.
Volvo also suggests restarting the TCAM to overcome connectivity issues. Additionally, they maintain that a gap between the antenna cover and the car sometimes allows moisture to get in and causes the TCAM to fail. Polestar does not suggest this is a cause.

 

how long is reasonable for a new (polestar) or established (Volvo) company to take to fix a glaring bug that is limiting sales to some extent?
Volvo and Polestar have known about their TCAM issues for 2y now; have had access to numerous test cases of both positive and negative TCAM functioning; and have released multiple updates to fix the supposed bug only for a similar behavior but maybe different root cause issues to crop up later.

so how long do we give Volvo/polestar here?

I plan to put a deposit down on the ex90 on Nov 9, when order books open. If the specs etc are as expected I will very likely purchase the EX90 or P*3 when they come available for delivery…. but only if I gain more confidence in their ability to fix their own cars. If there are continued TCAM issues then, I won’t go through with that purchase. And especially if I suffer more TCAM bugs, I’m out from Volvo//Polestar entirely in terms of my current cars. It’s pretty simple really: get their systems stable and keep customers like me in the fold; if there’s continued instability, we’re gone.

So how long of a leash is it reasonable to give them?

 

Volvo is deeply involved (also) with the TCAM issue -

My Advice - STAY AWAY FROM 22 VOLVOS

I had my car for 2 days when the Google system stopped working. The dealer took it 3 days later and I have not seen my car since. Its going on two weeks at this point with no end in sight. They are waiting for a TCAM unit to be delivered from Sweden. I was reluctant to take delivery and...

www.swedespeed.com

 

My suggestion to US Polestar owners that routinely and continually (not just one off) have TCAM issues - Formally register your complaint with NHSTA and Polestar HQ. Simply ranting on here does nothing to help solve the problem. If enough complaints are filed with NHSTA, chances are there will be a recall. Recalls, on all cars happen all the time.…but they only happen if the frequency is high enough, or the complaints represent a serious safety issue while driving.

 

Since they have not taken an official stand, it’s hard to say how hard they have really tried. Either way, its bad … because if they tried hard for almost two years and came up with nothing, this would be questioning their technical ability … my hope is that they have not tried very hard, yet, because they hate the cost associated with it, which will bite them at some point as well.

Also, it brings another question … how would they deal with a more serious wide spread battery module issue? Not exactly confidence inspiring is it?

 

Maybe you should write Polestar and ask them to issue a formal letter of apology to all owners…aand while you’re at it, ask them to give us an update/status report on what’s being done? I mean this as an honest suggestion. I have not experienced this problem, and in fact, nobody that I know with a P2 has experienced this problem - but if/when I do, I will take appropriate action.

Constantly complaining on here isn’t going to fix, or help anything. Really. Talk to the hand. 🤔

 

I had 5+ TCAM outages in 2 months with my 23 Polestar, but I'm hopeful that they at least mitigated the issues with v2.4. I've had it installed for nearly a week now, and haven't had any more outages.

 

(knocking on wood) I've only had 1 TCAM issue but it was a total failure - the module had to be replaced.
it seems that Polestar has issues in waves - whether software or hardware driven. When my P2 was at the space waiting for an OBC replacement there were 4 or 5 others waiting for OBC replacements also. I'm not sure how much attention corporate pays to complaints but I filed a BBB complaint against them and they didn't even respond to it.

 

(knocking on wood) I've only had 1 TCAM issue but it was a total failure - the module had to be replaced.
it seems that Polestar has issues in waves - whether software or hardware driven. When my P2 was at the space waiting for an OBC replacement there were 4 or 5 others waiting for OBC replacements also. I'm not sure how much attention corporate pays to complaints but I filed a BBB complaint against them and they didn't even respond to it.

I think Polestar has only a handful of CS reps, at least for the US. Everytime I use the chat, email or call the 800 number I speak to the same two or three people. The chat feature will suddenly go offline, then I have to wait for it to go back online again, which means that it gets filled up quickly as they are helping another person. Plus it can take a week for an email response

 

I still really wonder about sample size and how large this issue really is.

I feel for folks having issues - but the media reading the forum posts and then painting the p*2 with a very large brush that this is somehow systemic to ALL p*2 as having this issue seems unfair.

Assuming from a very vocal minority of posters on a forum (we post that’s what we do) that all p*2 are impacted, or even assuming that all issues reported are even TCAM seems like a leap.

But I support everyone and hope that the elevated attention gets their issues resolved, I just really hope it doesn’t sink this car, or sour others on buying - I’ve enjoyed mine immensely.

 

I still really wonder about sample size and how large this issue really is.

I feel for folks having issues - but the media reading the forum posts and then painting the p*2 with a very large brush that this is somehow systemic to ALL p*2 as having this issue seems unfair.

Of course everyone does wonder about that…..but partly because Polestar is so quiet about it. By their official inaction they are creating a negative vibe about it.

I don’t think that most of P2 owners care what media think or write, but all us care what will happen to either cars already riddled with TCAM issues, or ones being fine for now, yet failing after warranty …. Why? Because there has been plenty of people being fine and all of a sudden year later in ownership they had their first TCAM problem. Not sure about you, but I for once would certainly not feel great to pay large sum of money to have them fix it after my warranty expires.

 

Personally … My TCAM issues started 4 days ago. No internet, no GPS but PAK and key fobs still working. Car is on 2.3.1. Towed to dealer this morning since I don’t have time to drive it in and wait. Defroster fix didn’t resolve (has in past). Infotainment restart doesn’t resolve. Turning sim off/on no change also. Had mine since January with almost zero issues - till now.

Alright, got her back this morning. 2.4 and all good all day today. Only one day so doesn’t prove much obviously but so far so good. One thing I noticed is that PAK seems to connect quicker when coming back to car. That might not be real but have seen delays when walking back up to car in past. Wasn’t seeing those today. 🤞

 

Glad to hear it’s stable thus far. Mine is going in today for 2.4 to hopefully resolve various issues (incredibly frequent SOS warnings (like every 3-5 minutes), erroneous TPMS warnings, erroneous warnings about wipers and lights). It was in the shop twice in the spring for TCAM failures and since then I don’t receive OTAs and have been stuck on 2.1. Hopefully 2.4 is a step function improvement in TCAM reliability.