We recently learned of the case of a Chinese customer who, after suffering an accident in his Polestar 2, the repair cost amounted to 80,000 euros. The reason: the battery had to be changed, which was damaged. A case that has brought queue and that has ended in the most logical way (for the pocket): with the car in the scrapyard.
A few months after buying the car, our protagonist had an accident, not too spectacular at first glance but with critical damage to the vehicle -a Polestar 2-. In addition to the damage to the bumper and bonnet, there was a badly damaged battery: the steel plate that protects it was perforated, which compromised the operation and safety of the battery cells, as well as the integrity of the chassis.
The owner of the vehicle spoke with the Polestar Center that had sold him the car and he was quoted almost 80,000 euros to repair it, including a battery replacement complete. An exorbitant price and almost double what the new car costs in China in the Long Range Dual Motor version (about 49,500 euros). Another different technical service budgeted 59,000 euros, a considerably lower amount but equally exorbitant.
The cost of replacing the battery and repairing the car has inevitably ended with the car being scrapped. Luckily for the owner, he has not had to take care of the repair. And it has been much cheaper for the insurance company to provide him with a new identical car than to repair the crashed one, so the crashed Polestar 2 is over. moving on to a better life, as they say. No repairs to do.
The high replacement cost of the Polestar 2 battery is structure related of it, which is H-shaped in two layers instead of a monobloc structure, a more common design. This structure reduces the risk of batteries being damaged, but at the cost of higher repair costs – as has been shown. A Polestar spokesman said the information that the replacement of the battery pack would cost about 80,000 euros (540,000 RMB) was incorrect, without providing further details.
Be that as it may, the replacement or repair of batteries in the official service is a recurring problem. A very high-profile case last year featured a Model 3, with a battery failure that Tesla technical service estimated at $16,000 but could be fixed for just $700. In the vast majority of cases, the official technical services opt for the complete replacement of the battery instead of repairing the damaged part, even when the latter is perfectly convenient. This shouldn’t be a problem while the warranty is in effect, but it can become a customer’s nightmare if the battery is repaired (or replaced) out of warranty.
