The 2022 model-year export English owner’s manual for the Ora Good Cat lists no dedicated emergency high-voltage cut-off switch for the driver — no red button to isolate the battery after a crash. What the manual does list is an emergency shutdown procedure (in an emergency, above 5 km/h: press and hold the power button for 5 seconds), an automatic cut-off system that needs no input from you, and a service-only switch you are told not to touch. They are three different things, and mixing them up is how the “emergency power cut button” myth gets started. Manual quotes below cite printed page numbers; reviewer observations are linked to their respective reviews. (Manual: PDF, dated 27/04/2022.)
1. The automatic emergency cut-off: you do nothing
What the manual says (p. 227): “In case that the following events occur in normal running of the vehicle, the system will automatically cut off the power supply of the high-voltage system to reduce the risk of electric leakage.”
The two triggering events:
- The airbag detonates in a severe crash.
- The vehicle power system has a severe fault.
In plain language: the car cuts its own high-voltage supply. There is no button for you to find and no lever to pull. The manual’s only instruction to the driver is: “If the above events occur, contact service provider promptly.” (The manual does not explain the internal mechanism, so we won’t speculate about it here.)
2. The battery safety switch: in the engine bay, and the manual tells you not to touch it
What the manual says (p. 96): “The battery safety switch, near the supporting rod in the engine compartment, is used to disconnect or connect the power supply of the high voltage system, which can be seen after opening the engine hood.”
Immediately followed by a WARNING: “Do not attempt to operate the battery safety switch in the engine compartment. The battery safety switch is only used when servicing the vehicle and performing operations related to high voltage system.”
In plain language: this is the closest thing the car has to a physical high-voltage disconnect, and it is explicitly not the driver’s. It exists so a trained technician can isolate the high-voltage system during servicing and high-voltage work. You may come across machine-translated pages describing a dashboard “high-voltage cutoff function button” — we checked those claims against the manual and could not verify them, so we are not repeating them as fact. What the manual documents is a service-only switch under the bonnet.
3. The one thing you can actually do: hold the power supply off button for 5 seconds while driving
What the manual says (p. 98), under “Emergency shutting down”: “When the vehicle is running (vehicle speed is greater than 5 km/h), in the case of an emergency, for example, cannot stop in the normal way, you can press and hold the vehicle power supply off button ⏻ for 5 seconds to switch the power supply to LOCK mode.”
The WARNING that follows is explicit: switching to LOCK while driving means brake and steering assistance are lost — the brake pedal becomes harder to press and the steering heavier. The manual advises slowing down as much as possible before doing it, and warns against forcing LOCK mode while driving in non-emergency situations, citing the risk of a collision or major personal injury.
In plain language: the manual calls it the “power supply off button.” Reviewers have described hunting for it: a South African review called it “a kill switch on the right hand side of the steering wheel; the button on the extreme right” (recharged.co.za), while an Australian reviewer found it under the dash, marked with a voltage symbol (hopzone.eu). Those are the two reviewers’ own observations — not manual diagrams. Hold it for 5 seconds above 5 km/h and the vehicle power supply switches to LOCK. Note what this is not: it is not the automatic high-voltage cut-off of section 1, and it is not the battery safety switch of section 2. It is a last-resort shutdown — the manual’s example is being unable to stop in the normal way — and you will be braking and steering without assistance.
Why this is worth knowing in advance: this is the procedure to have in your head before you ever need it. Once the vehicle is parked steadily, by contrast, a normal press of the button switches the power supply to LOCK — no 5-second hold needed.
The everyday question: do I have to press it every time I park?
The manual lists two documented ways to switch the power supply to LOCK after the vehicle is parked steadily:
- Press the power supply off button; or
- Shift to N, close all doors and the tailgate, then lock the doors with the intelligent key or PEPS — “the power supply will switch to LOCK mode.”
So the manual does not require a button press at every parking — but note the full conditions of the second path: parked steadily, N gear, everything closed, then locked with the key. It is not “just lock the car and walk away” in the casual sense; each condition matters. Our take: the button press is a one-second habit that removes one source of “did the car actually sleep?” doubt. The manual is clear that the full lock-up procedure works too — so treat it as preference, not requirement.
Don’t confuse it with the SOS button
The manual (p. 243) documents a separate “Emergency rescue” function — a button that initiates a rescue call. It is a rescue-call button, not a power control. The manual also notes the rescue call may be unavailable in some situations — including if the vehicle networking system fails or is damaged (p. 244). When showing a new driver around the car, point out both buttons, and make clear which is which.
Which cars does this apply to?
Everything above is scoped to the 2022 model-year export English manual. The manual itself warns that some equipment or features described may not be installed on your vehicle or may be available only in some markets — so check against your own market, model year, and trim rather than assuming.
On naming: this car is the 欧拉好猫 (Ora Good Cat) in China; GWM sold it in Europe as the Funky Cat until a 2024 rename to Ora 03, and in Australia as the GWM Ora. The rename is documented; it does not by itself prove every market’s car operates identically. One data point on variance: a Philippines review of the 2025 Ora 03 500 reported no dedicated power switch on that car, with shutdown on a timer after locking. That is that reviewer’s observation of that market’s car — not a verified global change. If your car is a 2025 model, check your own manual.
Separately, German owners have reported overnight 12V battery drain on this model — carchecker.pro’s Ora 03 reports, summarizing gwm-ora-forum.de threads, describe error-message floods and no-start situations. Those are owner reports about the 12V system, a different system from the high-voltage cut-off discussed above; we mention them only so the two are not confused.
Same-series reading: our manual explainer on the XPeng G6’s driver-attention warnings. On 12V-versus-high-voltage diagnostics, see our BYD won’t-start troubleshooting guide.
Sources
- ORA Good Cat Owner’s Manual, 2022 model year, export English version (dated 27/04/2022) — pp. 96, 98, 227, 243, 244: battery safety switch, emergency shutting down, emergency cut-off system, emergency rescue. Public PDF copy (verified 2026-10-19; printed page numbers cited).
- Export-market reviews noting the physical power-off button (reviewer observations): recharged.co.za (South Africa), hopzone.eu (Australia), carsifu.my (Malaysia), freecarmag.com (UK); 2025 model note: carguide.ph (Philippines).
- carchecker.pro Ora 03 reports (summarizing gwm-ora-forum.de owner threads) — 12V drain background only.
- GWM UK announcement — Funky Cat renamed Ora 03 (naming only).
