Falling star? ANCAP warns Deepal that safety changes risk S07’s five-star rating and retesting could be required

September 29, 2025September 28, 2025 Bruce Newton 8842 Views ANCAP, Deepal, S07

Automotive safety authority ANCAP has warned changes to the driver assist systems of the Deepal S07 designed to make the vehicle easier to live with may not comply with its testing regime and therefore threatens its maximum five-star safety rating.

As reported last week, Deepal has recently added a menu to the S07 via over the air update allowing the driver to permanently disable certain functions including driver monitoring and lane departure warning.

The changes were made in response to significant criticism of the overly intrusive nature of the S07’s driver assist systems, which Deepal Australia, Deepal and its parent Changan started working together on a fix for early this year.

Deepal’s Australian distributor Inchcape told EV Central ahead of last week’s news story the updates did not threaten the electric medium SUV’s five star ANCAP rating.

However, ANCAP now says the S07 may have to be retested and because of the change may not comply with current regulations.

It has to be stressed, this is all about driver assists systems designed to help avoid crashes, not crash impact protection which ANCAP also tests for (and is pictured below).

ANCAP requires driver monitoring to be active every time the vehicle is switched on. In the Deepal, once switched off it stays off until the driver elects to switch it back on.

“If an update were to allow these systems to be fully and permanently disabled (functionality of these systems turned off), this would have implications for a vehicle’s safety rating, and reassessment would likely be required, ” said ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg

While an ANCAP rating is not a legal requirement to sell a vehicle in Australia, it is a valuable marketing tool in the family market where the S07 is sold. Five stars is also a requirement for fleet sales.

This issue is important not only for Deepal and the S07’s ANCAP rating. It also has wider implications as at least one other Chinese brand, Geely, is considering adding a similar function if it proves compliant.

While Deepal had suggested had worked with ANCAP to ensure compliance, ANCAP has since insisted that is not the case.

“To date, ANCAP has not received technical information from Deepal or Inchcape regarding this over-the-air update,” said Hoorweg.

“In general terms, if an update were to allow systems such as the Driver Monitoring System (DMS) – which includes fatigue/drowsiness functions – to be switched off and not default back on at the next ignition cycle, this would be inconsistent with ANCAP protocols and may have an effect on the published safety rating.

“ANCAP protocols require DMS to default on at the start of each journey and remain functional whenever the vehicle is in forward motion at speeds of 10 km/h or above.

“Lane Departure Warning (LDW) does not have a default-on requirement under ANCAP’s current protocols; however, if an update were to remove LDW functionality or prevent it from being activated, this may affect the scores originally published within the Lane Support Systems area of assessment.

“In relation to the Deepal S07, we have sought further details from the manufacturer/distributor to confirm the nature of the change and any potential impact on the published ANCAP safety rating.”

Contacted by EV Central, a Deepal Australia spokesperson expressed confidence in the compliance of the update.

“Working very closely with Changan, our engineers have ensured that all software updates are developed in line with ANCAP protocols,” the spokesperson said.

“Formal communication with ANCAP will take place once S07 testing is complete, reinforcing our commitment to safety and compliance at every stage of product development.”

Meanwhile, Geely Auto Australia CEO Lei Li told EV Central that the changes made by Deepal had been noted.

Like most Chinese brands, Geely has issues with overly intrusive driver aids in the models it has launched in Australia, the EX5 EV and the Starray EM-I PHEV.

“This is a topic under the investigation for the EX5 and the Starray EM-I,” he said.

“We have to find the requirements, the standards, the homologation requirement and how … to give access to [customer].

“It is under investigation, we will find a way.”