Polestar has designed the prefect Shonky with the latest Electrical Vehicle – the Polestar 2.
A sister company to Volvo, under the Geely ownership, and hiring ex Volvo AU management they aught to know what they are doing but this is what we have seen so far:
• Test Drives commenced in October 2021 and travelled most states.
• Buyers put down $500 reservations in October 2021, including specifying the options.
• Emails came in January advising the orders would open soon and that delivery would be 12 weeks from contract. Orders opened 14th February. The next day 12 weeks became an average of 25 weeks.
• Safety features are removed from cars fully contracted due to a chip shortage. While other brands have done the same, this Shanghai based manufacturer didn’t tell their own AU management team in advance – it was customers who called them after noticing changes on the OS controlled website, leaving local powerless, management scrambling for answers. There was a price reduction and a promise to notify within 14 days if your order was affected. That becomes 5 weeks (i.e., after the 14day cooling off period) and every pre order lost the features.
• Turns out there was a partial chip shortage – and they took them off contracted customers in Australia and gave them to the USA market – for prospective buyers. Not honouring locked in customers to try to boost USA sales is a nasty business cunning. That’s uber-shonky.
• As a specialist EV seller, they seemed not aware of the legal requirement to have a blue “EV” label on the number plates. In February , three of the four cars booked solidly for test drives didn’t have the triangles – exposing hundreds of prospective buyers to a fine of $136 and on demerit point ( varies by state). They knew enough to have one with the label, but not all? That is Shonky.
• As an online only seller in Australia, the plan was to set up delivery, display and help centres in every state called “Spaces.” As at May they are still adverting for staff, but only in Sydney and Melbourne. No Space has opened anywhere, and it seems no plans outside of SYD and MEL.
• No servicing or repair arrangements have been made anywhere in Australia (perhaps soon in Perth). Some buyers have taken delivery of their cars by choosing pre-configured cars.
• The android system and hardware are glitchy with well-known problems appearing again in Australia.( the car has been in EU and USA for a year and forums full of the same faults)
• With no servicing facilities, owners have had to DIY: pull off interior panels to get to the TCAM (modem) units to try battery pull resets.
o One car was DOA on delivery. The only remedy was to fly in the inhouse technician from Sydney.
o Another had a Propulsion unit failure, and all the Roadside assistance could say is that that have had zero training and all they could do was have it towed. The third tow operator didn’t refuse to touch the car and took it to a holding yard. The promised loan vehicle never appeared, and no one could tell when the 8-day old car would be repaired.
o Calls to the service department with car faults are ignored – no call returned three days later is a common complaint.
• Polestar require full prepayment, registration, and insurance to be in place and only then will they schedule delivery. But delivery shortcomings means that many have waited 5 weeks and one cash buyer paid $100,000 for a top-of-the-line model and has waited 8 weeks with no delivery scheduled.
• Buyers are financially exposed. If this newcomer, with no Australian assets go into receivership they will lose the lot.
• They “forgot” that Registration is a state issue and have been unable to set up registration, delaying deliveries even further. It still seems to be no solution in the ACT. Buyers have even offered to take a NSW registered car, or an unregistered car but Polestar refuse yet don’t have a plan in place. All the Dealers in ACT have said “no” ( as did very Volvo dealer in Australia)
• Buyers have paid for their cars, are starting to pay interest, and can even see their cars in the online system of the logistics company in Sydney. But the cars are not being released. “soon “ is all they are advised.
There we go – the prefect Shonky – perfectly (un) planned. Deliveries slowly taking place. Orders gratefully received and not one service centre contracted let alone mechanics trained.
Did I mention no spares warehouse setup – not even an ordering system. Buyers who pre ordered a Towbar have got the car, but no towbar in sight and no one knows where they are going to get them delivered and fitted.
A glitchy new car with no service network ready for at least a year. More tears to come and surely a world class Shonky!
