[thewallaby]

Google translated.
For the ones that can read the native text here.

Misnøye i Polestar-forumene etter brakdebut

Nye Polestar har hatt en knallstart i Norge, men alt er ikke rosenrødt. På nettforumene hagler det med meldinger om detaljer som ikke fungerer.

motor.no

The conclusions are all yours...

Dissatisfaction in the Polestar forums after the debut
Polestar 2 has received an overwhelming reception in Norway, and is in no time one of Norway's best-selling cars.
But on the online forums, buyers do not just write that they have hijacked the dream car. Very many report annoying small errors.
It is quite common with "childhood diseases" on brand new car models.
But about this "child" an unusual number of defects are reported.
Alexander Hørthe, general manager of Polestar Norway, will not comment on individual incidents, but says on a general basis:
- We experience that the customers who have received their Polestar 2 are very satisfied, and we experience that we get good feedback that helps us to improve where we have a potential for improvement. There will always be some childhood illnesses at the launch of brand new products and we have received feedback from some customers that we are now working with. We treat each customer inquiry individually and take problems that arise seriously.
One of the lucky ones?
Anders Jensen says that he got his Polestar 2 in mid-August. At the time of delivery, the 12-volt battery lacked power and the lights were not adjusted.
- So I have been quite lucky, he texts to Motor.
Jensen has been in contact with other Polestar customers and gathered experiences that are shared on the online forum, of which some of the errors and shortcomings are listed below.
"And for my part, it is not so much mistakes and any shortcomings that are the problem, because I almost expect that from a relatively new company, but it is the lack of information from Polestar that gnaws a little (a lot)," writes Jensen.
Two other Polestar customers Motor has been in contact with, who wish to remain anonymous, confirm that there has been a lack of response when contacting support.

Regulars
Among the forum messages we have registered as regulars are:
Several times changes back and forth regarding delivery time - and different delivery months stated in the app and online.
Lack of feedback / follow-up from support.
Error messages / errors - discharge of the 12-volt battery, noise from the battery fan, and the alarm that goes off when the home charge is completed-
Too high adjusted headlights when delivering the car.
"Car not found" on My Page at Polestar.com.
Unclear information about the software version the car comes with and which upcoming version will solve which problems.
Example several times of exceeded charging limit set to 80% and that the car still charges to 100%.
Clear information about 11 kW charging at home - whether it requires TN 400V / 3-phase / 16A or whether you can get it at 230V / 3-phase / 32A.
Various error messages are also reported, obviously with the software.

Other forum reported faults:
“The car arrived in Belgium in June and delivery was not until July. Then it was August, September and now October. Nobody knows anything and nobody knows why the car is still in Belgium. "
"Now our car died without warning. Same problem as others have reported. Waiting for salvage. The fan keeps the whole neighbourhood awake. Do not dare leave the car, then the alarm will start to howl. "
"I called support today regarding 4G not working and was then told that this was a known issue when Polestar's servers were down (?)"
"Car was impossible to unlock. Used emergency key. Alarm goes off. 'No keys found', message on screen. (quickly fixed by Bilia dealer) »
"Do not charge at home charging station, either with supplied or other type2 cables."
“Support does not respond to inquiries. Tried to contact the dealer (delivery point) as well, they also knew nothing. Has VIN 08xx, had delivery in July, then August, then September, and today it was changed to October. "
"Polestar Norway is completely absent when it comes to support and feedback ...."
"There is no one to turn to .... If you call support and ask, they will read from the sales brochure."
«Polestar will probably struggle to build a good reputation, if they do not (very) soon be able to get the information to the customers / customer handover in order. And a good reputation is known to be very important. "

Thanks for the support
Polestar CEO Alexander Hørthe says the company "appreciates the support and reception we at Polestar have been met with here in Norway and all the feedback, both about what is good and what can be optimized, this helps us to get better."
He says the Norwegian market has more early users than any other market in the world.
At the same time, he promises that the rate of delivery will be increased.
- With the planned delivery rate, I actually think there are many who will experience getting their car earlier than expected, says Hørthe.

 

[toscal353]

When we had our test drive in the UK we were all standing around outside and one of the cars suddenly started emitting a very loud fan noise. I assumed at the time this was cooling the battery pack but it seemed very loud!

 

[dave]

.....but the frameless wing mirrors are really cool!!
Maybe the reviewers got a little sidetracked by cool design features. I don't want a whirling fan to detract from the led light display!
Let's hope these issues can be ironed out remotely!

 

[thewallaby]

.....but the frameless wing mirrors are really cool!!
Maybe the reviewers got a little sidetracked by cool design features. I don't want a whirling fan to detract from the led light display!
Let's hope these issues can be ironed out remotely!

Yeah i agree.... the design threw me off too and i ordered one. Now i am having second thoughts. I am about to cancel my order to be honest because i know all these issues will bug the heck out of me and Polestar is pretending everything is perfect. OTA is not possible yet so every ''ironing'' means a visit to the store... even worse than Tesla at this very moment.

 

[toscal353]

even worse than Tesla at this very moment.

Not yet, but heading that way. Tesla were allegedly very good when all they had was the S, customers could actually talk to someone and got a reasonable level of service. Once the 3 came along their customer service became non existent, you could not talk to anyone, and they treated their customers like sheep.
Polestar had the 1, and now the 2 is clearly stretching them both in terms of logistics and customer service.
It is concerning that, like Tesla, they are having problems getting some elements in the 2 working which were in place for the 1 (e.g. OTA, phone app)
Polestar are at a critical point because they will not get the same tolerance from media or customers for failings with the 2 that Tesla got with the 3. They need to start communicating much better, and need to prove that service and support are in place.

 

[GDank]

The model 3 has been out for years and customer support is still bad.

Not sure how people are already calling Polestar as bad as Tesla ... it's early teething problems. Give them a year and then lets compare. If Polestar are still poor on communication and support then yes lets hang them ... if not let's applaud them for correcting the PR issues.

 

[thewallaby]

I agree with what you said besides this: i had a P85+ S model when model X or 3 were not even a thought in Elons head and customer service (In Oslo - Norway) was the worse i have experienced in my 20 years of car ownership.... Snob, cold, distanced, unhelpful, 12+weeks wait time for either small fix or critical errors (like lose drive shaft axel...). That was truly hell. The problem is that i see the same mistakes Tesla did at the start now from Polestar. It seems they did not do their research at all and they are missing in critical issues like customer support, updates (for geeks ) and prioritizing critical errors and functions.

Edit: i just found out that the regional manager (Norway) for Polestar is Alexander Hørthe that used to be Strategic salesplanning manager and Project and Team Manager at Tesla for 6 years..... it all makes sense now. Same mentality different logos. I am slowly moving towards the exit people...

 

[Fishouttawater]

I agree with what you said besides this: i had a P85+ S model when model X or 3 were not even a thought in Elons head and customer service (In Oslo - Norway) was the worse i have experienced in my 20 years of car ownership.... Snob, cold, distanced, unhelpful, 12+weeks wait time for either small fix or critical errors (like lose drive shaft axel...). That was truly hell. The problem is that i see the same mistakes Tesla did at the start now from Polestar. It seems they did not do their research at all and they are missing in critical issues like customer support, updates (for geeks ) and prioritizing critical errors and functions.

Edit: i just found out that the regional manager (Norway) for Polestar is Alexander Hørthe that used to be Strategic salesplanning manager and Project and Team Manager at Tesla for 6 years..... it all makes sense now. Same mentality different logos. I am slowly moving towards the exit people...

You seem to have made up your mind already...

 

[thewallaby]

I joined the forum to get more info about the car and all i saw was issues and how cool the colours are. I guess i met my purpose. I see the same people here that they are stoked about getting the car besides all the issues as i saw all these years at Tesla. I already did the ''back up my favourite company with a new really expensive car and deal with all the problems while they extremely slowly figure it out'' so I am not in for another round. I want to buy a car that just works now. I see that Polestar is just a Chinese Tesla now and i do not know if that is a better or a worse thing to be honest. Yeah i have decided. I will try to cancel, i just don't know if they will allow me since we are only 3 weeks before delivery. Fingers crossed

 

[GDank]

I've owned 4 Brand new cars (and new models) in my life.

2003 Mini Cooper S
2012 Kia Sorento
2016 Jaguar F-Pace
2018 Kia Stinger

Only the Kia's had zero problems or issues, and great customer service. The two that should be nailing this stuff BMW/Jaguar were the two biggest car issues I've had.

Either way Kia, BMW, Jag, if you read the community forums you would never buy a car again. There is always someone around that moans about something. Now with the BMW there wasn't many forums about then, but even the Kia's you get people that just get unlucky either with the Car or the Customer Service.

People only post when very happy or very annoyed. With the Jag after about 6mths the happy threads were swapped with the unhappy one's. The Kia's on the other hand still had unhappy one's but a small % of the overall threads.

The ONLY brand I've never had a problem with is Lexus. If they made a Good EV I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Anyway, it's your call ... But considering I've been a "Early Adopter" twice before (Stinger/F-Pace) and joined a forum group months (year for the jag!) in advance of the car being released ... And my gut is telling me right now that this won't be another Jag nightmare, but more a brilliant Stinger experience - this is based on the few minor issues we've seen and the overall postive posts here (and other social sites) vs negative one's.

 

[dave]

I've owned 4 Brand new cars (and new models) in my life.

2003 Mini Cooper S
2012 Kia Sorento
2016 Jaguar F-Pace
2018 Kia Stinger

Only the Kia's had zero problems or issues, and great customer service. The two that should be nailing this stuff BMW/Jaguar were the two biggest car issues I've had.

Either way Kia, BMW, Jag, if you read the community forums you would never buy a car again. There is always someone around that moans about something. Now with the BMW there wasn't many forums about then, but even the Kia's you get people that just get unlucky either with the Car or the Customer Service.

People only post when very happy or very annoyed. With the Jag after about 6mths the happy threads were swapped with the unhappy one's. The Kia's on the other hand still had unhappy one's but a small % of the overall threads.

The ONLY brand I've never had a problem with is Lexus. If they made a Good EV I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Anyway, it's your call ... But considering I've been a "Early Adopter" twice before (Stinger/F-Pace) and joined a forum group months (year for the jag!) in advance of the car being released ... And my gut is telling me right now that this won't be another Jag nightmare, but more a brilliant Stinger experience - this is based on the few minor issues we've seen and the overall postive posts here (and other social sites) vs negative one's.

I agree with the Lexus comment. I always came out of my local dealership (Wolverhampton) feeling appreciated & valued. For me no other brand comes close for customer service.

 

[dave]

I joined the forum to get more info about the car and all i saw was issues and how cool the colours are. I guess i met my purpose. I see the same people here that they are stoked about getting the car besides all the issues as i saw all these years at Tesla. I already did the ''back up my favourite company with a new really expensive car and deal with all the problems while they extremely slowly figure it out'' so I am not in for another round. I want to buy a car that just works now. I see that Polestar is just a Chinese Tesla now and i do not know if that is a better or a worse thing to be honest. Yeah i have decided. I will try to cancel, i just don't know if they will allow me since we are only 3 weeks before delivery. Fingers crossed

So what will you buy instead.
ps- I love Calvin & Hobbes

 

[ProfessorCook]

I agree with the Lexus comment. I always came out of my local dealership (Wolverhampton) feeling appreciated & valued. For me no other brand comes close for customer service.

I've heard good things about Lexus, too, but I'm not a fan of their design language (the exterior aesthetics) these days. Even if they had an electric vehicle, I don't think I could get past that front grill and squinty face. Is it just me?

 

[thewallaby]

Love CnH too and yeah Lexus is properly ugly for me at least.... but you know... eye of the beholder and all that stuff
I have owned 5xBMWs,1xTesla,2xFords,1xToyota,1xPeugeot,1xMazda,1xSkoda. All of them brand new but the Mazda. I am not mad to think that i will get flawless cars. I am an engineer and the first thing we learn is that structures and machines fail. I am also a realist.The only ones i honestly never had any serious problems with were the BMWs. The Toyota had to have an engine replaced, the Skoda a turbocharger, the Tesla developed over 7 pretty serious issues over the years i had it. The Fords on the other hand were impeccable. Never a single error. Anyways all i am trying to say is that I know its a gamble but early adopter adds a huge chunk into something critical failing, i learned that with the 90.000 USD Tesla. I also learned that how expensive that car is does not mean anything because people find those early adopter excuses.... (catch22?)

I see too many familiarities with Tesla here unfortunately. I don't know what to buy, honestly i am a bit swamped now. I was looking at the 3 series electric that comes next year, the only issue is i have to get a loaner until then as i just sold my car last week in wait for the Polestar... yeah well.... as i said i have to get the cancellation approved first.... Another issue is that the 3 series might not arrive until 2022 so....

 

[dave]

I've heard good things about Lexus, too, but I'm not a fan of their design language (the exterior aesthetics) these days. Even if they had an electric vehicle, I don't think I could get past that front grill and squinty face. Is it just me?

View attachment 716

did you google "ugly lexus pic"? haha
that is gruesome. i had a couple 10 years ago & loved the refinement.

 

[toscal353]

I will try to cancel, i just don't know if they will allow me since we are only 3 weeks before delivery.

I don't know the law in Norway (?) but in the UK we can reject for full refund within 2 weeks and 1000km. Why not give it a chance?

 

[thewallaby]

I am working on it. I have an advance payment in too .... this will be fun

 

[samsharp99]

Yes - it's worth bearing in mind that we are all very early-adopters - both of a new car but also a new company (even if spun out from well-established brands). We get the privilege/honour of being some of the first to own the vehicles but this comes with a risk of teething issues. If you want a car without issues then wait 6-12 months.

I'm not defending them, but some of this is to be expected. Hopefully they will resolve the issues quickly now that they are out in the wild.

 

[ProfessorCook]

I'm not defending them, but some of this is to be expected. Hopefully they will resolve the issues quickly now that they are out in the wild.

Though I'd take delivery tomorrow if I could, we're already benefiting from those customers who have received their cars in Norway and beyond. I speculate the issues mentioned above will all be addressable through software updates, so I'm not too worried at this point. In addition to these technical glitches, the company itself has to figure out personnel and task allocation. As long as there is a clear focus on what they're trying to accomplish... the company mission... I'm optimistic they'll get these problems resolved.

 

[SKuggemannen]

I think it is of some significance, that pointing out and discussing bugs in forums, does at least for some of us not equal being unhappy about the purchase. Even if I think this is the best, coolest and most enjoyable car in the world from my point of view, I'm not gonna sit around singing kum ba yah all day. Nothing is perfect, and the issues so far have been relatively minor. My biggest issue is lack of information, and that is typically the case with most car producers and no big surprise to me.