Faulty Module Is Locking Polestar 2 Owners Out of Their Cars

Photo: Polestar

When we first drove the Polestar 2, we liked it a lot. More paint options would have been nice, but overall, it felt like a great EV. As long as you were into the 2’s looks and were OK with it coming in gray, white or black, we probably would’ve recommended going for it. But recently, a growing number of owners have had complaints that tie back to one module causing all sorts of problems.

The Drive reports that the 2’s Telematics and Connectivity Antenna Module is the culprit. And some of the issues it’s said to cause are pretty serious for owners. Like not being able to lock the car with the key fob, not being able to unlock it, and not being able to start the car.

Yeah, we could see owners being pretty frustrated if their new car randomly refuses to recognize your key. Especially if it does so at a wildly inconvenient time, like when you’re in a parking garage and would really prefer to get home and avoid getting towed.

A faulty TCAM also reportedly causes the navigation system to glitch or stop working altogether. And if you lose your data connection, there go any features that rely on the internet to work.

The good news is, unlike when It’s Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton’s Tesla got stuck in a garage for two days, the Polestar 2 can be unlocked with a physical key inside the key fob. So, there’s no need to break a window if your dog or child gets locked inside. The bad news is that doing so will set the alarm off, and the key has to be placed in the cupholder before it will turn off. There’s also a good chance many owners don’t know about the physical key.

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The Drive also reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received quite a few complaints about TCAM failure from owners, and there’s a long thread over on Polestar Forum about the issue. One of the most serious complaints comes from Reddit where a user claims they had four separate TCAM issues since they purchased the car in July.

When asked for a comment, Polestar told The Drive the most important thing for owners to do is make sure their cars have all the latest software updates. There’s also a new update coming this week that’s said to fix a TCAM issue. If your car has lost its data connection, though, that’s obviously not going to work. Technically, you can reboot the TCAM yourself, but it may just be easier for owners to call their dealer for help.