GWM ORA Funky Cat
GWM ORA Funky Cat First Edition review.
*** out of 5
For – cute, well made, high-quality interior, fashionable pose-mobile
Against – poor battery range, too many annoying driving distractions
Competition – ID.3, SEAT Born, MG4, Hyundai Kona, Honda, Mazda MX-30, Fiat 500e, Peugeot e-208
£31,995
“It understated early mileage loss and overstated the rest and lost range much faster over routes favorable to electric cars.
I’ve no idea why this cute electric car is called a Funky Cat, but the fact we’re talking about it probably answers the question.
ORA is a subsidiary of Great Wall Motor, a big but by no means the biggest Chinese car maker. Prepare yourselves for many more electric cars from China as they are cranking up a huge onslaught on Europe.
About 10 years ago, various motor shows around Europe featured a few examples of China’s first attempts at gaining access to European and American car and SUV markets. They were hopelessly dire. But not anymore.
The Funky Cat does look good. The terrific quality of the build and the super interior will make an early impact. This “First Edition” has white “leather” seats with red trim. Very attractive. It’s not a big car, probably a bit smaller than a VW Golf. All the bits and pieces and switches have a quality feel to them. Turn the little control wheel to D for drive, set the electric drive to maximum one-pedal mode (my personal preference) and off you’ll go, at some pace too because electric cars all seem tuned to give you impressive acceleration. There was plenty of comfortable room inside. The boot was too small for golf stuff. The Funky Cat was a delight to drive, but range was questionable. The warranty for car and battery are very good (see table).
The claimed battery capacity range of 193 miles was impressive and I averaged 187 miles from the 4 fillups from my ChargePoint home charger. That’s pretty much perfect. I thought at first the Funky Cat performed well in the fast lane, only shedding 31% of its range at legal high speeds. But on later test drives over rolling country lanes and town driving, with full regenerative braking, it shed range at a colossal 49% rate. Some electric cars over my test route have recaptured a small amount of the real miles consumed. My conclusion is that the range gauge is inaccurate. It understated early mileage loss and overstated the rest and lost range much faster over routes favorable to electric cars.
Over-zealous
You’ll find some annoying tendencies from over-zealous designers. They could probably be easily ironed out, or modified once you get used to the system. Downloading the GWM ORA app would probably eliminate some of the pinging and ponging. The computer on the test car constantly tugged at the steering wheel trying to prevent it running off the road when there was no chance of that. Every time this happens, a warning buzzer goes off. It’s more or less constant on narrow country roads. When you indicate right to overtake or turn left in your lane, it refuses to cancel. This will also annoy the car behind. You won’t dare to get too close to the car in front because it will say “Too Close”.
When on a motorway, if you dare to drive over an indicated 75mph it will say “slow down” and a message will order you to drive safely. When the battery was running low, a message appeared saying something like “battery traction low etc”, but the type was too small for me to read the whole thing. That’s a safety issue too. A face recognition system detects when you are dozing off, but when I ordered the system to desist via the “Hello ORA” function, (clearly demonstrating I was wide awake) it paid no attention. Oh, and the hatchback needs a rear-wiper. Now that is a serious safety omission, but useful to blank out other motorists as they rage at your indecision about turning left or right.
What to buy
Electric cars usually are at their best in towns and can usually meet their claimed maximum range if you stick to town or country driving. But the Funky Cat performed badly in urban mode and seemed to be average for motorway driving. This brings the Funky Cat’s real range into the same category as the Honda e, Mazda MX-30 and Fiat 500 e which are more fashion statements serious, all-round cars. A serious electric car would have a range of about 300 miles and be capable of a modest amount of fast lane cruising. If you’re in that market there is only one choice – Tesla.
GWM ORA Funky Cat
| Ora Funky Cat First Edition | |
|---|---|
| (*estimated at indicated 75 mph) | (**suspected overestimate as later rural cruising had 49% penalty) |
| Electric motor: | permanent magnet synchronous |
| Power: | 169 hp |
| Torque: | 250 Nm |
| Gearbox: | single-gear |
| Battery: | 48 kWh Lithium ion phosphate |
| Claimed range/battery capacity: | 193 miles (WLTP) |
| WintonsWorld test range/battery capacity estimate: | 187 miles (average of 4) |
| Highway cruising range estimate: | 133 miles** |
| Highway cruising penalty*: | 31% |
| Charging: | 20 miles per hour with 7 kWh ChargePoint |
| Drive: | front-wheels |
| Acceleration: | 0-60 mph 8.1 seconds |
| Top Speed: | 99 mph |
| CO2: | zero at tailpipe |
| Length: | 4,235 mm |
| Width: | 1,820 |
| Height: | 1,603 |
| Weight: | 1,540 |
| Wheel-base: | 2,650 |
| Battery, Powertrain: | 8 years/100,000 miles |
| Warranty: | 5 years unlimited |
| Boot capacity: | 228/858 litres |
| Competition: | VW ID.3, SEAT Cupra Born, MG4, Hyundai Kona, Honda e, Mazda MX-30, Fiat 500e, Peugeot e-208, Vauxhall Corsa e |
| Rating: | *** out of 5 |
| Price: | £31,995 after tax |
| For: | cute, well made, high-quality interior, fashionable pose-mobile |
| Against: | poor battery range, too many annoying driving distractions |
GWM ORA Funky Cat
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