US safety regulator opens recall query into over 27,000 Polestar 2 vehicles

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(Reuters) -The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday it had opened a recall query covering 27,816 of Sweden-based EV maker Polestar’s Polestar 2 vehicles over a loss of rear-view camera image.

A recall query is an investigation opened by safety regulators when a remedy to solve an issue appears inadequate.

The NHTSA said Polestar had in June last year recalled certain 2021 to 2024 Polestar 2 vehicles over issues with the rear-view camera relating to limited visualization, becoming inoperable, or incorrect functioning in reverse gear.

Polestar had proposed to remedy this condition via a software update, minimizing a graphical rendering limitation by shortening the retry times of the camera streams, as well as removing the rendering of the map in the driver display during reversing.

However, the NHTSA has received 109 complaints for earlier rear-view camera failures persisting even after the recall remedy was completed.

In July, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) discussed the complaints with Polestar, which confirmed that its software update did not correct the original issue.

The ODI has opened the recall query to evaluate whether Polestar’s earlier remedy was adequate.

Polestar did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Demand for Polestar’s EVs has been weighed down in several markets by high interest rates, inflation and availability of more affordable hybrid or gas-powered options.

However, demand for the company’s EVs has remained resilient in Europe due to offers and discounts.

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Maju Samuel)