Polestar kicked off a micro-trend for replacing rear glass with body-color panels but has been forced to issue another recall to fix 28,000 cameras
May 4, 2025 at 07:43
- Polestar is recalling 27,816 examples of its 2 EV due to a fault with their reversing cameras.
- Some customers reported seeing a “camera temporarily unavailable” message on the screen.
- The Polestar 2 does have a glass rear window, but the same company’s 4 crossover does not.
There are plenty of reasons to like the Polestar 4, including its modern coupe-SUV design, high quality interior and generous equipment levels. But if you remember anything from the 4’s debut I’ll bet it’s that it doesn’t have a rear window, Polestar reasoning that we don’t need glass back there because a camera can do a better job.
But now the Geely-owned company has been forced to issue a second recall for faulty back-up cameras, reminding us why most cars have had a window in the back for more than a century, and why they probably ought to hang on to them for a while yet.
Related: 2026 Polestar 2 Looks The Same But Hides Major Interior Upgrade
To be clear, this recall doesn’t relate to the 4, but rather the Polestar 2, which does have a rear window and was recently pulled from sale in the US due to President Trump’s tariffs. However, given how widespread camera glitches are on cars from almost every brand (Ford, Hyundai, Kia, JLR, multiple Stellantis brands and more have issued related recalls) it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if the 4 ends up with a problem at some point . And unfortunately, like mentioned above, if this happens, the driver doesn’t have a backup window (pun definitely intended).
In this case, Polestar is recalling 27,816 examples of its 2 EV so it can update the software, something that unfortunately can’t be done over-the-air. The campaign affecting 2021-25 MY cars comes in response to some owners claiming their cameras were totally inoperative. Instead of showing the road behind them when reverse was selected, the screen displayed a message saying “camera is temporarily unavailable.”
The automaker says the fault is down to a synchronization error between the Parking Assist Camera (PAC) and the infotainment system. If this sounds familiar it’s probably because Polestar already issued a similar recall in June 2024 covering almost 26,000 examples of the 2 EV. In that case, the recall fix was an OTA update, but it also wasn’t much of a fix.
Polestar’s upcoming 5 EV is also designed without a rear window, as is Jaguar’s controversial-looking new electric sedan. Do you think automakers should be forced to retain a window for safety reasons or are these cases too isolated and designers may continue to go wild?
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