Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk

[cyb3rdud3]

This weekend we had a scary moment in our car; Polestar 2. My wife said she had a series of error messages back again (TPMS, ESC, ABS, OPD, etc). Three weeks ago that was diagnosed as a faulty speed sensor and it was 'fixed'. The following day it came back and there was lots of water in the sensor housing, dried it out, and it was fixed. Anyway, they came back. I took it out to get rid of the leaves from the garden, but then I encountered a red warning - brake failure stop the car -, then I lost power assisted steering, then the car started bunny hopping when at a stop. I turned around and drove back home.

The car was possessed, only Drive and Reverse was working. There was no neutral, no park. The car was in turtle mode (reduced power) by now, so I managed to get out and put chuck blocks on it. But the car wouldn't switch off. The app doesn't work as it sees the car as driving. The car powerdown doesn't work, as it sees the car as driving. Removing the 12V battery didn't work, the High Voltage kept everything going. I even managed to reboot the car, but it wouldn't switch off and kept driving on primary controls.

Polestar assist (provided by a third party) were useless, an engineer for roadside assistance came to our house and said that he doesn't know what to do, it requires a Volvo/Polestar technician. So he left. A recovery truck was send with a flat bed, and couldn't take it as the wheels had power and the car wouldn't switch off. Polestar assist recommended calling the fireservice and using my other car (Porsche) to block it so it wouldn't run over anyone. They did come out after some debate with the duty officer, but more out of interest and potential risk to the battery overheating and danger to the public.

They came and isolated the high voltage battery. The car was still on (but no longer driving), so had to disconnect the 12V battery as well.

It was an absolutely crazy situation. Although not EV specific as I've had diesel and petrol cars not responding to switch them off either, and thus got to starve it of fuel, air and/or spark.

 

[JT2002TJ]

This weekend we had a scary moment in our car; Polestar 2. My wife said she had a series of error messages back again (TPMS, ESC, ABS, OPD, etc). Three weeks ago that was diagnosed as a faulty speed sensor and it was 'fixed'. The following day it came back and there was lots of water in the sensor housing, dried it out, and it was fixed. Anyway, they came back. I took it out to get rid of the leaves from the garden, but then I encountered a red warning - brake failure stop the car -, then I lost power assisted steering, then the car started bunny hopping when at a stop. I turned around and drove back home.

The car was possessed, only Drive and Reverse was working. There was no neutral, no park. The car was in turtle mode (reduced power) by now, so I managed to get out and put chuck blocks on it. But the car wouldn't switch off. The app doesn't work as it sees the car as driving. The car powerdown doesn't work, as it sees the car as driving. Removing the 12V battery didn't work, the High Voltage kept everything going. I even managed to reboot the car, but it wouldn't switch off and kept driving on primary controls.

Polestar assist (provided by a third party) were useless, an engineer for roadside assistance came to our house and said that he doesn't know what to do, it requires a Volvo/Polestar technician. So he left. A recovery truck was send with a flat bed, and couldn't take it as the wheels had power and the car wouldn't switch off. Polestar assist recommended calling the fireservice and using my other car (Porsche) to block it so it wouldn't run over anyone. They did come out after some debate with the duty officer, but more out of interest and potential risk to the battery overheating and danger to the public.

They came and isolated the high voltage battery. The car was still on (but no longer driving), so had to disconnect the 12V battery as well.

It was an absolutely crazy situation. Although not EV specific as I've had diesel and petrol cars not responding to switch them off either, and thus got to starve it of fuel, air and/or spark.

Sorry you had/have to deal with this.

As I was reading this the first thing I thought of was you should have disconnected the HV battery. With Tesla, it is under the rear passenger side seat. There are extensive instructions on youtube/online showing how to do this. You start with disconnecting the LV battery then the HV battery. At this point you could leave the car will little fear of damage.

I assume Polestar has the same DIY videos. Were you able to watch how they did it, in case you have to do it again?

If was done prior to the tow truck coming, they would have been able to take it. I'm surprised that the Polestar assist didn't just do this. When in doubt disconnect the HV battery, that's a good motto for EVs.

 

[diamond.g]

Worse case scenario is they could have just cut one of the emergency response power lines. Though I wonder how hard it would be to replace them.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Sorry you had/have to deal with this.

As I was reading this the first thing I thought of was you should have disconnected the HV battery. With Tesla, it is under the rear passenger side seat. There are extensive instructions on youtube/online showing how to do this. You start with disconnecting the LV battery then the HV battery. At this point you could leave the car will little fear of damage.

I assume Polestar has the same DIY videos. Were you able to watch how they did it, in case you have to do it again?

If was done prior to the tow truck coming, they would have been able to take it. I'm surprised that the Polestar assist didn't just do this. When in doubt disconnect the HV battery, that's a good motto for EVs.

Yes, and same location. Nice little flap to get access.

I didn't do it myself as if the 'official' (third party provided) Polestar Assist didn't do that, nor was willing to touch it themselves, them I'm most certainly not going to do it on a car that is under warranty. But I agree it is silly. After the emergency services did it, they send out some guy with a generic OBD reader to try and use that, but he was effing and blinding that the car was isolated and now is ****ed, continuing to call us effing morons 🤷‍♂️ welcome to UK customer service, then stormed off in his Citroën low loader.

Polestar UK are delivering a brand-new Polestar to our home today that we can keep whilst they investigate and sort this out.

Out of interest, when reinserting the isolator does the car just boot up normally again?

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Worse case scenario is they could have just cut one of the emergency response power lines. Though I wonder how hard it would be to replace them.

Yeah, the interesting thing is that nobody actually knew what to do. I knew about the isolator, I pointed out where it was. Just didn't want to do it myself if the 'professionals' don't know about it.

I think our local firebrigade entertained it as an 'training' exercise as the firefighters never encountered a Polestar 2 before and found it interesting to look up their documentation (ahem no phone signal where we live so that didn't work...) and none of them have ever seen the isolator switch let alone dealt with it.

My wife and daughters enjoyed having the fire fighters there 🤣🤣

 

[I7guy]

Yes, and same location. Nice little flap to get access.

I didn't do it myself as if the 'official' (third party provided) Polestar Assist didn't do that, nor was willing to touch it themselves, them I'm most certainly not going to do it on a car that is under warranty. But I agree it is silly. After the emergency services did it, they send out some guy with a generic OBD reader to try and use that, but he was effing and blinding that the car was isolated and now is ****ed, continuing to call us effing morons 🤷‍♂️ welcome to UK customer service, then stormed off in his Citroën low loader.

Polestar UK are delivering a brand-new Polestar to our home today that we can keep whilst they investigate and sort this out.

Out of interest, when reinserting the isolator does the car just boot up normally again?

Seems like a tense situation. Glad everything kind of got sorted out.

 

[JT2002TJ]

Worse case scenario is they could have just cut one of the emergency response power lines. Though I wonder how hard it would be to replace them.

"Fireman's Loop"

I think most manufactures (at least Tesla), makes it easy to replace. But if that's cut, I would be willing to bet that it wouldn't be a as simple as having them replace it. They will probably have to go through some HUGE diagnostic testing to recertify the vehicle before allowing it back on the road, I assume for liability reasons.

 

[JT2002TJ]

Yes, and same location. Nice little flap to get access.

I didn't do it myself as if the 'official' (third party provided) Polestar Assist didn't do that, nor was willing to touch it themselves, them I'm most certainly not going to do it on a car that is under warranty. But I agree it is silly. After the emergency services did it, they send out some guy with a generic OBD reader to try and use that, but he was effing and blinding that the car was isolated and now is ****ed, continuing to call us effing morons 🤷‍♂️ welcome to UK customer service, then stormed off in his Citroën low loader.

Polestar UK are delivering a brand-new Polestar to our home today that we can keep whilst they investigate and sort this out.

Out of interest, when reinserting the isolator does the car just boot up normally again?

I would have done it. It's standard practice when working on the vehicle. It is there for safety; it should be used. I would not expect any manufacture to have an issue with the HV battery being disconnected. I would see them fighting owners if it WASN'T removed and damage to the battery happened.

With Tesla's, yes, the vehicle boots up normally. There is a specific order for disconnecting, and reconnecting the HV battery.

 

[adrianlondon]

I would have done it. It's standard practice when working on the vehicle. It is there for safety; it should be used.

That video makes it look fun! What would happen if a kid did that while the car was being driven?

 

[JT2002TJ]

That video makes it look fun! What would happen if a kid did that while the car was being driven?

Tesla has it under the seat bottom (same side). So, you have to pop up the seat bottom to get to it. Not a huge fan of where it is on the Polestar 2 (if the video is correct).

The problem with Telsa's location is, since I have a young child in a car seat, I have to remove the car seat to get to the disconnect. Not a huge deal, as the Fireman's loop is there for an emergency that requires an immediate response.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Tesla has it under the seat bottom (same side). So, you have to pop up the seat bottom to get to it. Not a huge fan of where it is on the Polestar 2 (if the video is correct).

The problem with Telsa's location is, since I have a young child in a car seat, I have to remove the car seat to get to the disconnect. Not a huge deal, as the Fireman's loop is there for an emergency that requires an immediate response.

You have to remove the mat first, then the carpet flap and insulation require strong fingers. That black cover has actually two locks on it that you need to swivel.

Let’s say it’s easier to just touch the gear shifter or hold the electronic parking brake to come to a hold 👍

 

[JT2002TJ]

You have to remove the mat first, then the carpet flap and insulation require strong fingers. That black cover has actually two locks on it that you need to swivel.

Let’s say it’s easier to just touch the gear shifter or hold the electronic parking brake to come to a hold 👍

It does seem well hidden, while still allowing for quick access.

I would think if my son saw it, it would be a problem. But in reality, my son would never see it, as the likelihood of needing to disconnect with him around is very low.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

On a different note, just renewed our electricity contract. Now paying 7.90p per kWh between 00:00-05:00 and 25.98p per kWh any other time. Still very cheap motoring.

Polestar just delivered a new 2 at our home with all the packs and nappa leather upgrade. So all good until they fix our one.