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Polestar 2 doesn't turn on

13K views 39 replies 14 participants last post by  Mick 
#1 ·
Hi,
I've been leasing my PS2 for a few months now and encountered a seemingly major issue for the first time.
The car is not turning on this morning. It was working the day before perfectly. It had over 100 miles so I did not charge it overnight. I thought it might have been a dead 12V, so checked with multi meter and it showed 12.45V. But it wasn't steady, it would show 12.45V for a few seconds then go to open circuit and then back to 12.45V.
Just in case I also did a jump start but as expected it didn't do anything.
Also I think if the 12V goes dead even the charging lights and circuits go dead (at least thats how it is on my Nissan leaf). But in my PS2 case, the charging lights and locks when I plug in the charger is working.
So I am strongly suspecting it might be a software issue, maybe a OTA update gone bad.
Has anyone else encountered such an issue?
I am also checking with the service folks near me to see if they can come and check. So I will provide an update once they finish their inspection and update this post.
 
#2 ·
Not turning on - could you give some more info? Is the center Infotainment screen coming on? Is the driver display on and showing charge status, drive mode indicator, etc? Is the problem that it won't engage drive or reverse and is any message displayed on either display? Or is everything just remaining blank? I assume you sat in the drivers seat and triggered the sensor there?

Sorry, we probably need a bit more information to understand what might be the issue.
 
#3 · (Edited)
No worries Mick. Thanks for the response. Yes I sat in the drivers seat.

So below is what is turning on:
- the infotainment and sos
- i am able to play music, look at google maps, so I think the 4g network is working
- the charging light is coming on once I plug in the charger
- but the car isn't charging

Everything else is not working or turning on (everything is dark)
  • the instrument cluster
  • every other function: a/c, seats, turning on the car
  • all my keyfobs, digital keys also don't work
  • actually charging the car (plugging in and lock work but charging doesn't)


I made the call through polestar sos to their support and they tried to remote reset but there was no response.
Also they asked me to do manual TCAM reset which I was able to do, but it did not fix the non working issues above.
Currently the only option looks like a tow to the local polestar service location.

I am trying to consider a list of possibilities that would cause this type of isse.
Would a malfunctioning 12V cause this?
- someone on reddit mentioned that infotainment might be getting its power from electric battery while everything else including turning on car and instrument control comes from the 12V battery. Is that a correct statement?

Also would a bad OTA update cause this issue to occur?

Or could it be a blown fuse that shut down all the areas of the car related to its drive functionality?

Thanks again in advance.
 
#5 ·
Looks like your 12V is ok for now if it’s not completely dead (you wouldn’t even be able to unlock it without using the physical key blade if it was dead!)

Nothing is using the high voltage battery except the propulsion system, definitely not the infotainment.

This is a very novel way for the car to fail, if you can’t have access to assistance quickly were you are located then it might be worth disconnecting the 12V battery for a few minutes making sure you do this when the car is asleep (eg locked for a minute or two). If it’s a software glitch it might get it back to a sane state, worth a shot.

To do that you just need to remove the right hand side of the plastic trim between the frunk and the windshield and use a wrench to loosen up a nut.

If that doesn’t help just get it towed I suppose!
 
#6 ·
Shortly after my delivery, I had the instrument cluster intermittently fail - it simply stopped coming on. However, everything else was fine - the car was driveable if not advisable.
When the technician arrived to investigate it had (of course) started working again, but he recommended disconnecting and reconnecting the battery as per @kkonstan. There were early teething issues with the 12V systems, maybe this is an iterative improvement....
 
#11 · (Edited)
It’s OK for the SOS stuff above the mirror to still be on, they have their own small lithium ion battery pack near the bottom of the C pillar, but not the charging port light. That and everything else should be dead if you disconnected it properly.

Personally I’d disconnect the negative pole from the battery instead to be sure, but what you did should also work if that cable is the only thing connected to the positive pole, but I suspect the other fuse box gets access to the positive directly too.

At this stage I wouldn’t bother attempting another disconnect if charging the battery seems to help.

I had to jump start my own a few days ago bit my cars symptoms were different, mine was 100% dead, nothing worked, including the SOS as that had also drained, so had to use the key blade to unlock and get access to jump start it.

To jump start it I used a NOCO GB40, but anything will work, it’s not like you’re cranking a high compression engine, it just needs 12V for a few seconds for the car to wake up, then if you plug it in to charge or put it in drive and go for a spin it will keep the onboard 12V charger working which should top it up over a few hours. Provided that works of course!

Personally I left it connected on my home charger for about half an hour, went for a quick drive (about a mile) and then I left it off the charger but plugged in my CTEK MXS 5.0 to charge the 12V battery fully as the manual recommends you do that if you have one.

Other than an error about a critical fault in the 12V system that a Volvo engineer couldn’t get it to reset (even though everything looked right it’s come up again) it was fine. That error disappeared when the car was driven up the flatbed (typical!) and the dealer informed me they could find nothing wrong with the car and just updated the software.

Hope it’s the same with your car too, but I’m still wondering what caused it to drain the battery overnight in the first place! I got a NOCO GB20 to keep on the frunk (not trunk as you can’t open it with a dead battery!) so if this happens away from home I can at least jump start it and remain mobile.
 
#12 ·
Do you have a picture or a description of how to disconnect the negative pole of the battery? I tried to find info on the polestar website and I can only see a mention of 12V battery general location in the frunk area. The only details they have are related to removing the cover to access the front fusebox area for jumpstart.
That NOCO charger sound nice. I got a Gooloo one during prime day and it seems to work ok for my other cars.
I feel like there maybe something else going on with my PS2 than just a dead battery. It almost as if the DC-DC circuit is not working at all (maybe a busted fuse?). The only thing that comes on is the infotainment, and once on I can't turn it off and that I think ends up draining the 12V battery.
Overall, I think I've done all I can. I will call for a tow tomorrow and ask them to tow it back once they've fixed the issue. I will provide an update once I find out the details on what happened.
 
#13 ·
I posted it a photo on the other thread you asked, here it is:

Hood Vehicle Automotive tire Automotive lighting Bumper


If you have a multimeter measure DC voltage across the battery poles, you should see it rise to above 13.3V when the car is active (eg put it in drive) that would confirm that the DC-DC converter is operating. If you still see just the battery voltage when in drive then you have a fault, you’re supposed to get a message on the dash if that fuse is blown according to the manual though.

If you jumpstarted it and left it on charge for half an hour it should be fine, if not you have another fault so best get it towed.
 
#15 ·
I agree with kkonstan... I don't think you actually disconnected the power... and you should disconnect the negative terminal.

I haven't disconnected it myself and, of course, there can be risks with monkeying around with your car's electrical system... but here's my photo in case it helps.

Motor vehicle Electrical wiring Engineering Auto part Electrical supply
 
#25 ·
I have had this issue happen 2x now. Once with 1.7 and again with 1.8.1 (since updating to 1.8.1 in the shop was the "fix" the first time it happened). Trying to get my car back into the shop for service but they are too busy... and I'm not confident they will do anything anyway.

First time the 12V was fully drained but it sat for 3 days between initially becoming bricked and getting mad and troubleshooting it myself. After disconnecting the battery and jumping the car using another 12V battery, it rebooted. At that point I shut powered the car off and reconnected the 12V battery. Drove it onto the tow truck and it sat in the shop for 2 weeks until they updated it to 1.8.1.

Second time it happened at home so I was able to check the 12V battery, it was 12.28V. Disconnected it and let it sit for 10 minutes, reconnected and voila, back to life. It did charge back up to 14.59V.

Should I be powering down the car when leaving it at night? I don't lock the doors because it is in my garage. At this point I don't want to lock the doors because if it happens again, locked doors will make it a bit more difficult to disconnect the 12V and reboot the car.
 
#27 ·
While I agree that the car should not drain it's 12v battery, I don't understand why people don't want to lock the car even if it's in the garage. It's not as if it's difficult. Just push the strip on the handle to lock the car.

To be honest, it's a habit I've got into - I always lock the car when I leave it. Plus I thought the car was meant to auto lock if all the doors are closed and the key(s) move away?
 
#29 ·
My car sometimes sits for days in my garage and I never lock it there. Never had an issue with the 12V draining. But I may just be lucky...I'll knock on wood quickly.
 
#30 ·
Mine died last week afer the cold snap in Ottawa. 12v battery was at 3v. Problem is, after they replaced the battery yesterday, it doesn't pass the self-diagnostic and won't engage the main battery, and won't allow it to be charged either. Technician fully replashed the ECU, and still no go. So the car is back to the Polestar space in Montreal. And I'm back with the loaner. No biggie, but about 2 months ago was the onboard charger that died. I hope that this is the last issue that happens.
 
#34 ·
Has anyone else heard a clicking sound from their dash when the car is bricked or just before it happens? It sounds like a relay or contactor cycling. I distinctly remember the sound occurring every time I got in the car for about a week before it bricked. It also happens when the car is bricked but the 12V isn't quite dead. The sound has gone away after disconnecting the 12V and rebooting the car.
 
#37 ·
below is the diagnosis and solution notes from the repair shop:


customer states vehicle will not start. csc=7b verified customer's concern and vehicle will not start. attempted to jump start and no success. removed front under hood panels and front trunk load space. removed fuse box from main battery and removed main battery. tested main battery with hand-held and failed. removed and replaced main battery. removed tcam battery and completely discharger. charged tcam bub and downloaded total upgrade onto vehicle. test drove vehicle and no faults returned.”
——-
so pretty much
  • they replaced the main 12V battery and then replaced with a new one.
  • Afterwards they removed and disconnected tcam battery and charged it separately.
  • then downloaded upgrade
——-
man what a pain for this car’s battery to just die.
 
#40 ·
Car doesn't autolock (might be nice to have that option, but wouldn't want it to be the default). I leave my car unlocked in my garage all the time, sometimes for days on end, many times not plugged in and have never had a battery drain issue.
 
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