Two years ago, Great Wall Motor introduced us to the Ora Funky Cat. This EV had a quirky name and bold styling but was glitchy and generally uncompetitive. Bugbears included overly sensitive safety systems, fiddly infotainment, below-par charging speeds and poor real world range – a shame, because it was perfectly decent to drive.
Since then, the Funky Cat has been rebranded as the GWM Ora 03, and the line-up now boasts a higher-spec, £34,995 Pro+ variant. Crucially, it has a bigger battery (capacity rises from 43kWh to 63kWh) and therefore more range (up to 260 miles). We averaged 3.5mpkWh, equating to 217 miles of real-world driving. Acceptable, then, if not class-leading. However, the 67kW DC rapid-charging speed is still far behind that of rivals, which can manage well over 100kW.
Aswellasheated and ventilated massage seats, a panoramic roof, front and rear parking sensors and an electric tailgate, our test car was also fitted with a beta version of an updated software system that will be rolled out in the coming months, bringing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (both wireless) to the 10.25in touchscreen.