29/03/2023 The ORA ‘Funky Cat’ is shaking up the electric car market. The Chinese brand is new to the Irish market and as part of the vast Great Wall Motors family benefits from its scale – this particular electric platform is a co development with BMW. The Funky Cat features loads of kit as standard and has very attractive pricing that can’t be ignored starting from €31,995.
Funky Cat’s exterior styling is a mash up of retro themes with more than a nod to the classic VW Beetle, there’s even hints of old Nissan Micra. Press the unlock button and the Funky Cat’s lights will do a welcome dance that a DS or Audi would be proud of. Look closer and you will see some embossed whiskers in the bumpers that shows the designers had a sense of humour. The essence of the car’s design delivers a disarming, non aggressive body form that will raise the odd smile. A bonus to its cuteness is that the Funky Cat gets allowed-out by other drivers at junctions long before any BMW! The body delivers a spacious cabin, but be warned the boot is tiny. Sadly there is no badging on the car whatsoever that says ‘Funky Cat’ just a large ORA on the tail gate with a small GWM badge to the right that looks like a grade badge (e.g. GTE / GLS etc.).
Inside the cabin seats five, four is best, and is very spacious considering the car’s compact, almost supermini-like appearance – in reality the Funky Cat takes up about as much road space as a VW Golf. Rear cabin space is great. Funky Cat has a premium feel and our top spec 400 Pro+ test car (from €39,995) shames quite a few premium brands. It is easier to say what the 400 Pro+ doesn’t have than list its’ equipment… yep, it has almost every option as standard bar CarPlay and Android Auto – that is on the way and will be an over the air update. The car can recognise the face of the driver when they get in and adjust settings accordingly. Large touch screens, MINI-like toggle switches and a rotary gear selector are some of the nicer touches to the cabin – we even have heated and massaging seats in our range topping model and a heated steering wheel. Voice activation via “Hello ORA” features. The Funky Cat has loads of driving assistance systems but many are overly active, makes all sorts of announcements – if you yawn – you’ll be given out to for driving while tired! At times the assistance systems, while noble and ultimately there to enhance your safety, are simply distracting and you will find yourself seeking out ways to switch off things like the ‘driver monitoring’ system. It is not quite HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey – but it’s not far off. In NCAP crash tests the Funky Cat scored best in class.
So what is not to love? There is no rear wiper and the hatchback-like rear screen can get pretty dirty. The turn indicators frustrated me at times as they don’t always cancel – meaning that as you try to get them to cycle off you end up inadvertently sending all sorts of coded signals to other road users as you attempt to finesse the indicator stalk to switch off! Big brother’s presence is both wonderful and alarming. Connected cars are nothing new but in Funky Cat the fact that the driver is under constant surveillance by a camera – in a Chinese car – is something that brings out the thriller novelist in me. GWM says the data collected is GDPR compliant and processed in Munich, okay… but… The display screens are filled with information and some cool technology but the writing and units displayed on secondary controls are ridiculously small and require too much scanning time by the driver. We did not have access to register the car to our own account but I am sure when the car is set up to suit the owner’s taste the tech will prove to be be more friend than foe. There is so much tech and assisted systems that you will need to pay attention to the handover to get mastery of it all.
The ORA Funky Cat (ed.*now called GWM 03) is an impressive car, with loads of style and premium features at a very attractive price. Its inability to charge at rapid speed is a drawback but its ability to charge at public AC chargers at up to 11kW makes up for this to a great degree – although it can’t match the Renault Megane with its 22kW AC ability. The Funky Cat comes with impressive car (5yr mileage/ 12 anti-corrosion) and battery (8yr) warranties and five years of roadside breakdown assistance. Chinese EVs look set to dominate the market in a few short years, as they have the manufacturing scale to undercut Europe’s best. Pricing more than politics is the critical factor with any car purchase these days but especially with electric cars. We liked the Funky Cat and are excited for the next models to come from ORA as in previews they look particularly well styled. Michael Sheridan
