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2025 Polestar Polestar 3
The verdict
Several concerns worth a close look before buying.
Cons
Official recall campaigns exist for this vehicle. See the Safety Recalls section for what failed and how it's fixed.
Why we say this — NHTSA — Safety Recalls
49 of 78 owner complaints are about the electrical system. Tap it in the heatmap to read the real reports.
Why we say this — NHTSA — Owner Complaints
4 complaint(s) involved a crash and 0 involved a fire.
Why we say this — NHTSA — Owner Complaints
Pros
Nothing in this category from the official data.
Neutral
The government hasn't published a crash-test rating for this exact vehicle. We won't invent one.
Why we say this — NHTSA — 5-Star Safety Ratings
Take this with you:
—Crash-test safety
0Safety recalls
0Owner complaints
5% involved a crash or fire
—Combined MPG
ℹ️ Recalls & complaints are reported per model — the same across every trim & engine. Fuel economy (and crash ratings by body style) can vary — use the pickers in those sections.
Safety Recalls
Official recall campaigns. Tap one to see the danger and the fix.
What is a recall, really?
A recall means the government made the manufacturer admit a safety defect — and the fix is free at any dealer, forever, even for used cars. Recalls range from a software update to "the steering wheel can detach," so read the danger line on each one. Buying used? Ask the seller for proof each recall was completed, or have a dealer run the VIN. Recalls also have a quieter cousin worth reading: technical service bulletins.
NHTSA Campaign 24V940000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2025 Polestar 3 hybrid electric vehicles. Fluctuations in the 12-volt system may have damaged the High to Low Voltage Converter Module (HLCM).
The danger: A damaged HLCM reduces the system's ability to convert energy, causing a sudden loss in drive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix: Dealers will replace the High to Low Voltage Converter Module (HLCM), free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 17, 2025. Owners may contact Polestar customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1043.
NHTSA Campaign 25V293000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain Polestar 3 vehicles. The rearview camera image may not display when the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
The danger: A rearview camera image that does not display reduces the driver's view of what is behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix: The software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed June 24, 2025. Owners may contact Polestar's customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1057.
NHTSA Campaign 25V420000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2025 Polestar 3 vehicles. The panoramic glass sunroof may not be properly secured and can detach.
The danger: A detached glass sunroof can become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix: Polestar will replace the panoramic glass sunroof, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 28, 2025. Owners may contact Polestar's customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1060.
NHTSA Campaign 25V453000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2025 Polestar 3 vehicles. Water may damage the electrical connectors between the engine bay and front bumper cable harnesses.
The danger: Damage to harnesses can cause various electrical malfunctions, such as a loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
The fix: Polestar will replace the bumper harness and the inline front bumper/engine bay connector on the engine bay harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 31, 2025. Owners may contact Polestar's customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1063.
NHTSA Campaign 25V555000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2025 Polestar 3 vehicles. The hood wing front bumper may be missing bolts, allowing the bumper to detach.
The danger: A detached bumper can become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix: Polestar will inspect the hood wing bumper for missing screws. If any screws are missing, the bumper and screws will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 30, 2025. Owners may contact Polestar's customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1064.
NHTSA Campaign 26V037000
What's wrong: Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2025 Polestar 3 vehicles. The striker brackets that secure the rear seat backrest may be loose. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 207, "Seating Systems."
The danger: A loose rear seat backrest may fall forward and allow cargo to enter the cabin during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The fix: Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat backrest striker bracket mounting nuts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 4, 2026. Owners may contact Polestar's customer service at 1-800-806-2504. Polestar's number for this recall is RP1079. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning January 30, 2026.
Source: NHTSA — Safety Recalls · re-checked about every 24 hours
Where Owners Report Problems
Where owners report the most trouble — based on 78 complaints (4 involved a crash, 0 a fire). Tap a part to read the real reports.
Raw count — best-sellers naturally log more complaints than rare cars, so judge it against the peer comparison below, not on its own.
Why don't we show complaints per vehicle sold?
Because no official source publishes sales counts per model — that data is sold by private firms, and the free numbers online are guesses. A rate built on a guessed denominator is a guess wearing a lab coat, so we refuse to show one. Instead we show comparisons where fleet size cancels out or is disclosed: the same model across its own years, the crash/fire severity mix, and the peer ranking below — each with its methodology attached.
Of 49 reports about this part, 2 involved a crash and 0 a fire.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 49):
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.
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)
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
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.
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.
Of 10 reports about this part, 2 involved a crash and 0 a fire.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 10):
I was driving my Polestar 3 2025 Performance into a gated garage. The car was on one pedal mode, I slowed down to come to a stop to open the gate. When the clicker for the garage door was clicked the car lunged forward and full speed rammed into the opening gate. Realizing the car is not stopping I pressed harder on the brakes, lifted my foot up and looked down to insure that I was pressing on the correct pedal and started pumping the brake pedal. None of these slowed down or stopped the car, which eventually hit a wall and stopped.
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.
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.
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)
After the car is backed up in reverse, the car is placed in drive however if at a stand still you pull down on the shift lever twice the car thinks it is in adaptive cruise control and as soon as you apply pressure to the accelerator pedal the car speeds up quickly without application of pressure on the accelerator. Multiple times I had to quickly apply the brake otherwise I would have crashed into my garage. I a person was in front of the car they could be injured. The company has not addressed this issue. Also the forward collision warning system activates spontaneously and incorrectly tightening the seat belts suddenly and with force.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 10):
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.
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.
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).
Vehicle suddenly lost power with no warning on a busy four-lane highway. Despite the obvious crash possibility, I was luckily able to move to the shoulder, but the entire electrical system soon went out. Emergency flashers quit working, making a rear-end collision more likely . It was a hot sunny day but the a/c and even the windows wouldn’t operate and we ran out of water before the tow truck arrived; heat stroke was a real possibility. The car was towed to a dealer who diagnosed the problem as failure of the High Low Control Module (HLCM). It seems to be the same type of failure for which NHTSA issued recall 24V940000, but this recall is not pending on my car. As of this writing, the car is still at a dealer undergoing repairs and should be available for inspection.
Air conditioner is being over worked because front grill shutters won’t open
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 8):
We have owned this vehicle for about 4 months. During that time, it has displayed dozens of error messages about the vehicle's safety systems. Most commonly, it indicates that the safety systems are not available at all. There are also persistent warning lights about faults in the safety systems. Even when they are working, the ongoing warnings, issues and randomly occurring failures of these systems make them unreliable and less safe than not having the assist systems at all. Polestar service had the vehicle for over 7 weeks but still returned it to us with active safety system failure warnings.
There is a documented bug with Polestar. If you shift the car into reverse, the rear camera comes on (point back, like it should). If you shift out of reverse, and back into reverse, the camera defaults to an overhead view. With this view it is very difficult to see what is behind you. This happens 100% of the time...it is not a "sometimes happens" bug.
When parking the car and putting the car in reverse, the cameras are activated and two views are displayed simultaneously on the head unit: 1) a 360 view is displayed; and 2) rear camera view is displayed. However when putting the car in Drive and then back in Reverse again, only the 360 view displays but NOT the Rear view camera. Subsequently drive / reverse sequences during a parking maneuver do not cause the rear camera to display again, The only way to turn the rear camera back on is to keep the car in reverse and then fiddle with the head unit to tap the appropriate button sequences to turn the rear camera back on. This is not safe.
Activation and persistence of the rearview camera. This situation occurs when selecting reverse, drive and then reverse again in short order (i.e. parallel parking, maneuvering to get into our garage with a narrow driveway and tight turn). When I initially select Reverse, the center display shows both the 360 view and the reverse camera - perfect. When I select Drive to move forward a couple of feet and realign the car, the display switches to show just the 360 view - makes sense. When I then put it back into Reverse to continue parking, the rear view camera does not come back on and only the 360 view is visible. Based on my reading of the regulations, if the car is in reverse, the rear view camera should be active and show on the screen. This is a significant safety issue and one that Polestar claims is not and that their software is operating as designed.
- Vehicle displays are unresponsive and stay off or black, the display shows key indicators like speed & turn signals. Because the vehicle has no physical buttons you cannot control heat, cannot use backup cameras.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 7):
Since taking delivery of the vehicle, multiple electronic and computer-related systems have failed or malfunctioned. Initial issues included unreliable phone synchronization, dropped phone calls, and failure of the driver memory profile system, including seat and side mirror memory settings. Over time, the problems have become more serious and now involve safety-related systems. The vehicle intermittently displays SOS system failure warnings. The center and steering wheel display screens have gone black while the vehicle is in operation, resulting in the loss of vehicle information and audio alerts. During these incidents, it is difficult or impossible to confirm the status of certain vehicle functions through the display. The vehicle has also generated false occupant detection warnings indicating that a person has been left in the vehicle when no person or object was present. In addition, seat belt warning alerts repeatedly activate for a properly installed child safety seat. These warnings appear even when the child restraint is correctly secured. The failures occur intermittently and have been ongoing for months. The problems are particularly concerning because the vehicle is regularly used to transport young children. The combination of SOS system failures, display screen outages, and false safety warnings has significantly reduced confidence in the vehicle's ability to reliably communicate safety-related information to the driver. Multiple attempts have been made to obtain assistance and repairs through the manufacturer and service channels, but the issues remain unresolved. The vehicle should be available for inspection upon request.
Vehicle has multiple ongoing defects, most critically a malfunctioning occupant detection system causing the alarm to activate randomly, including overnight when the vehicle is empty. This creates a safety concern and repeated public disturbances. The issue has not been resolved despite multiple service attempts. Additional issues include persistent propulsion system fault messages, repeated major service warnings, and intermittent system errors. The vehicle experiences charging failures, with inconsistent ability to charge at home or public stations. Infotainment system is extremely slow and unreliable, and both the center display and driver screen reset unexpectedly while driving or parked. Driver-side window intermittently reports as open or cracks open without input. Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay connections are unreliable. Driver profile settings do not consistently adjust seating and mirror positions. Mechanical issues include a glove compartment that does not open, premature wiper failure, and a front wheel center cap that detached while driving. Vehicle has required multiple tows and has been in service for an extended period (approximately one month) without resolution. Issues persist despite repeated repair attempts by an authorized service center. Polestar corporate has ghosted me and no longer will help.
Air conditioner is being over worked because front grill shutters won’t open
The steering wheel has a piece of high-reflective chrome as does the entire front dashboard (and high reflective trim of the speaker on the top of the dash). When the sun is high in the sky, depending on the angle of car, the sun creates a BLINDING reflection in the driver's eyes. I almost got in to accident because of this. They need to find a solution to replace those high-reflective parts of the interior with something that is matte and non-reflective. It is very dangerous. I also reported this to Polestar.
I leased a 2025 Polestar 3 in February 2025. Within days, I began to experience serious discomfort. It started with a sensation of inner-ear pressure. It got worse the more time I spent in the vehicle and soon escalated to headaches, dizziness, and nausea. The vehicle is undrivable for me now, and, worse, the sensation of pressure hasn't completely gone away even though I haven't driven the vehicle in weeks. The problem seems to stem from the vehicle's active noise cancellation (ANC) system. I notified Polestar Corporate of the issue on approximately February 26, 2025. On March 13, 2025, a Polestar repair shop attempted to disable the ANC with a software update. After this didn't fix the issue, Polestar suggested on March 27, 2025, that I try driving with the windows closed. This also didn't resolve the issue, and Polestar since has failed to suggest another fix, articulate a plan, identify a timeline, or even let me speak to someone who can make decisions about the matter. Meanwhile, although my case may be extreme, I'm certainly not the only person who's experienced discomfort in the Polestar 3. Even though it's a new model, a forum post suggested other have had issues with the ANC. In addition, one of the Polestar customer service representatives with whom I spoke mentioned that her household has a Polestar 3 and that she avoids it because it bothers her as well.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 5 of 6):
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.
As reported on Polestar Forums, the car throws critical system errors telling you to park, call support, etc. while driving. These alerts are false... Usually you ignore them and they go away the next time you start the car. The issue is a safety issue...when you are driving and you get a critical alert (error message), it diverts your attention and you need to pull over. On the highway this is extremely dangerous. My last error was yesterday... it said "Stop Safely - Critical suspension fault". I was close to home so I drove there, parked the car, turned it off. When I came out later and started the car, it was gone.... The list of errors reported is long... Critical Brake Issue, Critical Battery Error, etc. This vehicle also has issues where the system needs to be soft booted every few days to keep the screens up and the services working. This is totally unacceptable and dangerous. What happens when you ignore a real error and cause a major accident?
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.
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.
three issues 1) media control are not built to steering wheel. The only way to change media is to use the dial. I have to move my hand away from steering wheel and move my eye to see the control. This is a safety hazard. 2) Polestar's driver monitoring software is too sensitive to report overwhelming false alarms. The alarm triggers when turning my head on lane change, moving my eye to change media etc. When there is way too many false alarm, the system become a safety hazard per se. 3) Steering wheel hand detection sometimes don't work even when I have my hand on it. Another distraction.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 4 of 4):
I am submitting a complaint regarding my Polestar 3, which is subject to two open NHTSA safety recalls: 26V-037 and 25V-555. I attempted to have these recalls addressed on March 7, 2026, at Volvo Manhattan (an authorized Polestar service provider). Upon arrival, I was informed that no qualified Polestar technicians were available to service my vehicle, and I was told I would receive a follow-up call. No follow-up occurred. On April 30, 2026, I contacted the Polestar service desk at Volvo Manhattan again. I was informed that they currently have only two Polestar technicians, that they are unable to schedule a service appointment, and that no timeline can be provided for when recall service will be available. As of today, I have been unable to obtain any appointment to remedy these safety recalls, nor any estimate of when the defects will be corrected. I am concerned that Polestar is failing to meet its obligations under federal law to provide a timely remedy for safety recalls. My vehicle is approximately one year old and remains in service with unresolved safety issues. I request that NHTSA investigate whether Polestar is complying with recall remedy requirements in the United States, particularly with respect to service capacity and availability.
The car software seemed to be experiencing a few glitches, and we arrived home and put it in park. Then front passenger door would not open from the inside, nor would the rear passenger doors, with kids in the backseat. Despite locking and unlocking, the doors would not open. I climbed out the driver window, and went around to open the doors, and despite the external door handle being up/open, the doors would not pull open, it was hard because there was slight wiggle in it like something was blocking it, but it would not open. The driver door would open and everyone climbed out. I plugged the car in, and got back in to try and perform a soft and hard reset, and none of those functions were working. We are still waiting to hear back from polestar.
Polestar has choosen to use highly reflective material around the cabin. Specifically the steering wheel has a large metal component that reflects overhead sunlight into the drivers eyes. Here is the issue as discussed on the Polestar Forum. [XXX] The design of the wheel reflects the light directly into the driver's eyes. Sunglasses are not a fix... This is a very dangerous design flaw. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
During the first week of March, 2025, my Polestar 3 suffered a total AC charging failure, meaning I was no longer able to charge at home. March 7 I brought the vehicle to Dyer & Dyver Volvo in Atlanta, GA, and they confirmed that the AC charging inverter failed and would have to be replaced. This part took more than two weeks to receive, and I retrieved the vehicle April 1. This issue seemed resolved since then, however two evenings ago I arrived home to discover that once again the Polestar 3 would not charge, and displayed "Charge fault, contact workshop" on the driver display. The inability to charge the vehicle, and its now pattern of trouble, is certainly a safety issue. While my car was in the dealership I also had addressed a failure of the central locking system. All proximity keys refused to lock, or unlock, the vehicle. The only functional method was one of the card-keys supplied by Polestar. This safety issue completely erodes my trust that I will be able to gain access normally to my own vehicle, but may have to use my phone, or a backup card key (necessitating I carry two keys at all times). This issue has once reoccurred since retrieving the vehicle. Lastly, the driver door was not able to be opened from the exterior. The door handle, though extended and in the unlocked position, completely failed to function. The door had to be opened via the interior handle. I find this to be an extremely grave problem. It has not reoccurred.
Of 4 reports about this part, 1 involved a crash and 0 a fire.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 4 of 4):
On [XXX], while driving, the car issued a warning that stated, “driving performance reduced. Book a service” and an icon of a turtle. Then on [XXX], while driving on [XXX], the car suddenly slowed dramatically that me, my husband and our frenchie in a dog crate behind us lurched forward violently. Estimated 30 mph sudden drop in speed then the turtle icon appeared briefly. I took the car to the Polestar 3 service department in North Hills, CA on March 12 and it is now April 10 without any resolution in site. Notably, this Polestar 3 also would not unlock the morning of [XXX]x only one night after we signed a lease contract. It had to be towed from our Los Angeles house’s garage. Then on [XXX], it would not charge and had to be in service for almost four weeks. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was parking, lifted my foot off the accelerator to slow my car down, and instead my car unexpectedly went into high acceleration (note: not user error, I took my foot OFF the pedal). My car hit head-on into another car, then I steered the car sideways, and finally was able to get the car to stop by pumping the breaks several times.
Changing the gear to Drive while car is already in Drive is the normal way to put the car on cruise control at highway speeds. This should not be permitted when car is under a certain speed. However, it appears you can turn on cruise control when the car is at 0 mph. When car is already in Drive and at a stop (0 mph), shifting gear changer into drive again, and letting foot off brake and lightly tapping the gas pedals causes car to suddenly lurch forward in a highly disproportional manner to any light pressure applied to the gas pedal. Car then continues to increase speed from 0 mph at an alarming rate as if cruise control is on. This is extremely unsafe. One can accidentally shift the gear into drive more than once while at 0mph, and cause the car to unexpectedly lunge forward into someone or something. Moreover, the current gear is not clearly displayed at any time in a large enough font. The gear indicator is only displayed in tiny font on a small screen atop the steering column, and the gear indicator can be easily blocked by the spoke of the steering wheel when wheel is turned. At no time is the current gear indicator displayed on the larger head unit. Furthermore, there is no audible chime or indication that gear has been switched like in other cars. Without the chime, one can easily put the gear into to Drive twice, entering this dangerous condition where car can lurch forward as if cruise control is suddenly on.
- Vehicle displays are unresponsive and stay off or black, the display shows key indicators like speed & turn signals. Because the vehicle has no physical buttons you cannot control heat, cannot use backup cameras.
Of 4 reports about this part, 2 involved a crash and 0 a fire.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 4 of 4):
The one pedal driving / regenerative braking would randomly deactivate. I have my car set on high one pedal driving. 99.9% of the time, the one pedal driving would work as expected with the car slowing down as the accelerator is released. However, the car would randomly deactivate one pedal driving, so when I release the accelerator, instead of slowing down or stopping, the car would continue going, some times it feels like there's even a slight surge. This has happened several times at slow parking lot speed and at fast highway speed. There's no warning. It's just random. It hasn't been inspected by the dealer yet.
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.
I was driving my Polestar 3 2025 Performance into a gated garage. The car was on one pedal mode, I slowed down to come to a stop to open the gate. When the clicker for the garage door was clicked the car lunged forward and full speed rammed into the opening gate. Realizing the car is not stopping I pressed harder on the brakes, lifted my foot up and looked down to insure that I was pressing on the correct pedal and started pumping the brake pedal. None of these slowed down or stopped the car, which eventually hit a wall and stopped.
Software update latest on 06/16/25 caused airbag warning not recognizing seat belts being locked therefore airbag warning started. Loss of regenerative braking. Loss of emergency brake application. Constant alarm because doesn't recognize seat belts being locked.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 3 of 3):
As reported on Polestar Forums, the car throws critical system errors telling you to park, call support, etc. while driving. These alerts are false... Usually you ignore them and they go away the next time you start the car. The issue is a safety issue...when you are driving and you get a critical alert (error message), it diverts your attention and you need to pull over. On the highway this is extremely dangerous. My last error was yesterday... it said "Stop Safely - Critical suspension fault". I was close to home so I drove there, parked the car, turned it off. When I came out later and started the car, it was gone.... The list of errors reported is long... Critical Brake Issue, Critical Battery Error, etc. This vehicle also has issues where the system needs to be soft booted every few days to keep the screens up and the services working. This is totally unacceptable and dangerous. What happens when you ignore a real error and cause a major accident?
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)
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).
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 3 of 3):
three issues 1) media control are not built to steering wheel. The only way to change media is to use the dial. I have to move my hand away from steering wheel and move my eye to see the control. This is a safety hazard. 2) Polestar's driver monitoring software is too sensitive to report overwhelming false alarms. The alarm triggers when turning my head on lane change, moving my eye to change media etc. When there is way too many false alarm, the system become a safety hazard per se. 3) Steering wheel hand detection sometimes don't work even when I have my hand on it. Another distraction.
The steering wheel has a piece of high-reflective chrome as does the entire front dashboard (and high reflective trim of the speaker on the top of the dash). When the sun is high in the sky, depending on the angle of car, the sun creates a BLINDING reflection in the driver's eyes. I almost got in to accident because of this. They need to find a solution to replace those high-reflective parts of the interior with something that is matte and non-reflective. It is very dangerous. I also reported this to Polestar.
Lane Keeping and Lane Departure: Lane Departure warnings cannot be disabled, but steering interventions also cannot be disabled, contrary to manual’s instructions and control panel button. With feature turned “off”, vehicle still intervenes and self-steers. Car has steered back toward potholes and bicyclists that I was trying to avoid. I could have destroyed a wheel in the 1st case or killed somebody in the second case.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 2 of 2):
The driver-side rear taillight assembly suffers from a persistent seal failure, allowing significant moisture accumulation and water droplets to build up inside the lamp housing. This defect was documented by the Polestar Delivery Specialist at the time of vehicle handover and has persisted despite two prior warranty replacements of the lamp assemblies (authorized under Polestar TIE case 01943145). The manufacturer now claims this is a "natural phenomenon" due to a vented design; however, the volume of water accumulation is sufficient to obstruct the clarity and brightness of the safety signaling. Repairs: The vehicle has had the taillight assemblies replaced twice (August 2025 and December 2025) with no permanent resolution.
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.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 2 of 2):
The car software seemed to be experiencing a few glitches, and we arrived home and put it in park. Then front passenger door would not open from the inside, nor would the rear passenger doors, with kids in the backseat. Despite locking and unlocking, the doors would not open. I climbed out the driver window, and went around to open the doors, and despite the external door handle being up/open, the doors would not pull open, it was hard because there was slight wiggle in it like something was blocking it, but it would not open. The driver door would open and everyone climbed out. I plugged the car in, and got back in to try and perform a soft and hard reset, and none of those functions were working. We are still waiting to hear back from polestar.
After being away for a couple days the car has been completely unresponsive. I can not access the car and doors will not open. The car had to be towed and seems to be an issue with electrical powertrain such as 12V battery that is dying for some reason. This should not be the case as car was driven before hand and should have recharged the 12V battery. This is very concerning as this can leave you trapped and have to access to the car while traveling. Please investigate as I've seen many issues with this car.
Of 2 reports about this part, 1 involved a crash and 0 a fire.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 2 of 2):
I was driving my Polestar 3 2025 Performance into a gated garage. The car was on one pedal mode, I slowed down to come to a stop to open the gate. When the clicker for the garage door was clicked the car lunged forward and full speed rammed into the opening gate. Realizing the car is not stopping I pressed harder on the brakes, lifted my foot up and looked down to insure that I was pressing on the correct pedal and started pumping the brake pedal. None of these slowed down or stopped the car, which eventually hit a wall and stopped.
Software update latest on 06/16/25 caused airbag warning not recognizing seat belts being locked therefore airbag warning started. Loss of regenerative braking. Loss of emergency brake application. Constant alarm because doesn't recognize seat belts being locked.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 2 of 2):
- Blind spot warning detection failure (intermittent, unpredictable) - stops working during a drive and doesn't identify cars in blindspot despite working at the beginning of the drive without any notification of system failure. No way to reproduce this as it occurs randomly. Alternatively, it will sometimes light up when there is no car in the blindspot. - Lane keeping assist with cruise control: sometimes car will show that it is following a lane and stop following the lane without warning or notification, with the dash showing that the feature is still on.
Lane Keeping and Lane Departure: Lane Departure warnings cannot be disabled, but steering interventions also cannot be disabled, contrary to manual’s instructions and control panel button. With feature turned “off”, vehicle still intervenes and self-steers. Car has steered back toward potholes and bicyclists that I was trying to avoid. I could have destroyed a wheel in the 1st case or killed somebody in the second case.
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 1 of 1):
As reported on Polestar Forums, the car throws critical system errors telling you to park, call support, etc. while driving. These alerts are false... Usually you ignore them and they go away the next time you start the car. The issue is a safety issue...when you are driving and you get a critical alert (error message), it diverts your attention and you need to pull over. On the highway this is extremely dangerous. My last error was yesterday... it said "Stop Safely - Critical suspension fault". I was close to home so I drove there, parked the car, turned it off. When I came out later and started the car, it was gone.... The list of errors reported is long... Critical Brake Issue, Critical Battery Error, etc. This vehicle also has issues where the system needs to be soft booted every few days to keep the screens up and the services working. This is totally unacceptable and dangerous. What happens when you ignore a real error and cause a major accident?
Real owner reports filed with NHTSA (showing 1 of 1):
The steering wheel has a piece of high-reflective chrome as does the entire front dashboard (and high reflective trim of the speaker on the top of the dash). When the sun is high in the sky, depending on the angle of car, the sun creates a BLINDING reflection in the driver's eyes. I almost got in to accident because of this. They need to find a solution to replace those high-reflective parts of the interior with something that is matte and non-reflective. It is very dangerous. I also reported this to Polestar.
Many crash/fire reportsSome crash/fire reportsNo crash/fire in reports
Color = how serious (crash/fire involvement) · number = how many (share of all this car's reports). Tap any part to read real owner complaints.
Source: NHTSA — Owner Complaints · re-checked about every 24 hours
Crash-Test Safety Ratings
Official U.S. government 5-star crash-test results.
How to read these stars
These come from the government physically crash-testing this vehicle — front, side, and rollover — and scoring it 1 to 5 stars. Ratings are per body style, so a sedan and its coupe twin can differ. If a vehicle shows no rating, it usually means the government never tested that exact configuration — untested is not the same as unsafe, and we'll never blur that line.
Source: NHTSA — 5-Star Safety Ratings · re-checked about every 24 hours
Fuel Economy (MPG)
Official EPA estimates — the real numbers, not the brochure.
No official EPA fuel-economy match for this exact model. Rather than show a guess, we're leaving it blank.
Source: U.S. EPA / DOE — fueleconomy.gov · re-checked about every 24 hours