Leapmotor's Annoying Safety Beeps Aren't Going Away — Here's Why

If you've sat behind the wheel of a Leapmotor B10 and found yourself reaching for the mute button every five minutes, you're not imagining things — and you're not alone. The brand has now come out and explained why those driver-assistance warning chimes are so persistent, and the honest answer is: regulators are making them do it.

Regulations Are Driving the Noise

Speaking at the international media launch of the new B05 electric hatchback in Germany, Leapmotor International's head of commercial operations for Europe, Danilo Annese, put it plainly: what used to be an optional driver aid is now a legal requirement in many markets — and that changes everything.

"Four or five years ago, some of these systems were driver aids, but not homologation requirements," he said. "When you have a legal requirement, you cannot decide to deactivate things forever — you need to have it every time you switch on and off the car."

He confirmed Australia is subject to the same pressure, with safety requirements stacking up "month after month" across global markets. So every time you fire up your B10 on the Kwinana Freeway and get pinged for drifting half an inch toward a lane marking, that's not Leapmotor being overly cautious — that's the car doing what ANCAP and local homologation rules demand.

Lane-keep assist is the biggest offender, according to Annese. Manufacturers are caught between what drivers actually want and what's needed to achieve a five-star safety rating. "You find the balance between these two," he said — though plenty of owners would argue the current balance still leans too far toward the nannying end.

The B10 Could Get a Tune-Up Over the Air

Here's the more encouraging news for WA B10 owners. Leapmotor says the steering tune developed for the new B05 is an improvement over what's currently in the B10 — and the brand is planning to push that improved tune to B10 owners via an over-the-air (OTA) software update.

"The next OTA of B10 will take the steering feeling of this one," Annese confirmed, describing it as "a gift" to existing owners enabled by the car's full OTA capability.

Whether Australian-delivered B10s are included in that update hasn't been locked in officially, but based on current indications, there's no reason to expect local vehicles would be left out. If you've already got a B10 sitting in your driveway, it's worth keeping an eye on incoming software updates.

Leapmotor is also working with Stellantis engineers — the global auto group that co-distributes the brand — to keep refining the ADAS calibration going forward. The B05's systems already represent an improvement over the C10 SUV, the brand says.

What WA Buyers Should Know About the B05

The B05 is Leapmotor's new small electric hatchback, packing 21 advanced driver-assistance systems, seven airbags, and 14 sensors and cameras. It's due in Australia in the second half of 2026, sitting below the B10 SUV in the local lineup. Australian pricing and specifications haven't been confirmed yet.

The B10 already holds a five-star ANCAP safety rating here, and Leapmotor expects the B05 to follow suit — the car has already been tested, with a five-star Euro NCAP result anticipated.

For Perth drivers doing daily runs through the suburbs or longer hauls up to regional WA, the core question isn't just whether a car is safe — it's whether it's liveable day-to-day. On that front, Leapmotor is at least moving in the right direction, even if regulators are tying one hand behind their back.