Renault's coolest EVs blocked by Australian safety rules

Renault’s funky European electric vehicles (EVs) remain forbidden fruit for Australia, as they don’t comply with the same strict safety regulations that have also impeded various other brands in recent years.

Despite beginning somewhat of an electric rejuvenation with the launch of the Scenic E-Tech, Renault Australia is still unable to introduce the brand’s smaller EVs – primarily the Renault 5 E-Tech hatch – as they don’t currently comply with an Australian Design Rule (ADR) regarding rear-seat child restraint anchorages.

Specifically, the Renault 5 (and likely the Renault 4 E-Tech) doesn’t comply with ADR 34/03 (Child Restraint Anchorages), which requires a top-tether anchorage point in each rear seating position fitted with a seatbelt.

This was confirmed to media at the local launch for the Scenic, with Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey stating: “The issue with Renault 5 is compliance with the ADRs. It’s the rear bench child restraint”.

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It’s far from the first time a manufacturer has struggled with ADR 34/03, which came into effect on November 1, 2019 for all newly launched vehicles, and from November 1, 2022 for all vehicles on sale.

Most recently, the Deepal E07 ‘Multitruck’ was recalled due to the lack of a middle-seat anchor, while BYD was forced to pause deliveries of its Atto 3 EV in 2022 for the same reason. Honda also infamously launched its second-generation HR-V small SUV here as a four-seater instead of engineering an Australian-specific solution.

Additionally, Tesla launched its updated Model 3 sedan here despite it being non-compliant, and while it later paused sales to rectify the issue, Mr Sealey said the compliance costs for the Renault 5 would be prohibitive for the French brand to follow suit.

“Renault tends to do things properly and pretty well, and so compliance is thought of very seriously,” he said.

“I can tell you that the compliance cost of just the rear bench is about three million euro (~A$4.9 million). So that’s testing, getting the rear bench right, making sure it takes double the force on that single tether point.

“It’s not a problem, it’s just meeting a standard. And there’s a compliance cost to the standard.”

Mr Sealey denied that such costs would kill an Australian business case for the Renault 5 E-Tech, but also noted that his brand doesn’t currently see the need to introduce additional EVs in Australia beyond the existing Megane E-Tech, Kangoo E-Tech, and Scenic E-Tech.

“We never kill a case, we always leave the door open,” he said. “But we’ve got three electric vehicles in a market that’s 1.2 million and less than 10 per cent [of sales share] is electric, it doesn’t need a fourth, or a fifth, or a sixth car.”

“Bringing in a car with high compliance costs at a very high price point is not necessarily going to work in a market that’s fairly well swamped today.”

Indeed, EVs accounted for just 8.3 per cent of the 1,241,037 vehicles sold in 2025, up from a 7.4 per cent share in 2024. Renault contributed only 4569 to the total sales figure.

“Where we sit with Renault 5 today is we’ve got Megane E-Tech, we’ve got Scenic E-Tech, we’ve got Kangoo E-Tech, and that’s three models for a small brand where electrification today is sub-10 per cent in the marketplace. So we’re well covered,” Mr Sealey said.

“What we need to do is assess that market. If electrification became 40 per cent tomorrow, Renault 5 would be a much easier proposition.”

The exception to European Renault EVs thwarted by ADR 34/03 is the wild Renault 5 Turbo 3E, which is available to order in Australia directly from the factory in Europe – albeit for more than $300,000. That exclusive electric performance hatch is in the clear, as it has no rear seats at all.

Regardless, Mr Sealey says the Renault 5 E-Tech is a “great branding exercise” for the French manufacturer, as it was Europe’s best-selling subcompact EV in 2025 and one of the continent’s most popular EVs overall.

“That car is well known, it’s well thought of, it’s picking up a lot of awards in Europe. However, there is a cost to getting to market, and that has to be taken into account. It’s got to work,” he said.

“Any car we do has to work for the [manufacturer] – be profitable – or it’s not worth doing. It’s got to work for the dealer network, but most importantly, it’s got to work for the customer. So if you have [a manufacturer] proposition and a dealer proposition that doesn’t work in the marketplace, don’t do it.”

As for the ADRs, multiple brands have previously criticised the Australian Government for imposing specific regulations that differ from those overseas.

Mitsubishi has criticised several ADRs, including ADR 34/03, while Nissan cited this regulation as one of the reasons behind the delayed arrival of its Ariya electric SUV.

However, the Australian Government announced a review in late 2024 into how ADRs could be harmonised with other markets and how the local homologation process could be streamlined to reduce costs and shorten the time it takes for a vehicle to be certified for sale locally.

Despite public feedback submissions for the review closing on January 24, 2025, the findings have yet to be released.

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