GWM Ora 03 (Funky Cat) review

The GWM Ora 03 is a small electric car that was launched with a name comfortably more bizarre than any other – the Ora Funky Cat.

Let’s explain what it all means. Ora is a sub-brand of Chinese automotive giant Great Wall Motors (GWM), which specialises in electric vehicles (EVs). And the Funky Cat bit? Well, it’s based on a car sold in China as the Good Cat. The Funky moniker was selected for the version being sold in the UK.

The Chinese and European versions of the 03 are said to be virtually identical, with only a few software changes between them.

GWM 03 video review

The line-up will grow in the future, but for now, there are two trims available and one power set-up – a 45.4kWh (usable capacity) battery, giving the Ora 03 an official range of 193 miles between charges.

It has one 170bhp electric motor driving the front wheels, and 0-62mph officially takes 8.3sec, which is not all that speedy for an electric car. Sportier trim levels with zippier performance and a bigger battery for a longer range will be available in future.

The GWM Ora 03 has lots of tech, a long warranty and very good crash-test results, but is all that enough to help it compete with its rivals – including the Cupra Born, the Hyundai Kona Electric, the MG4, the Renault Zoe and the VW ID 3? Read on to find out...

While the GWM Ora 03's official range is 193 miles, it managed 130 miles in our winter range test on a cold day, when most electric cars don’t perform as well. It was enough to beat the Mini Electric but fell way short of the Cupra Born, the MG4 Long Range and the Renault Megane E-Tech.  

When it comes to performance, we timed the 03’s 0-60mph sprint at 8.4sec when we tested it on a damp day at our private test track. That’ll be more than quick enough for most situations, but if you want something faster, you’ll want to take a look at the Mini or the MG4 Long Range, which was a second faster on the same day.

The main thing holding the Ora 03 back is the fact that you need to be quite cautious with how you feed in power in: it’s quite easy to spin up the front wheels, even with the traction control on. Aside from joining a motorway, there’s little cause to explore the upper reaches of the moderate performance potential anyway, because it’s not a particularly rewarding car to drive.

Sure, it's easy to drive around town – as it is with every electric car – but if you crank up the speed on a twisty road, it handles more like a tall electric SUV. Its poor body control results in lots of body lean through a corner followed by a fairly harsh rebound back to the centre once you’re straight again. The slow, light steering robs the car of any feeling of agility too.

You’re more likely to have an issue with the ride, though. The firm suspension set-up isn’t uncomfortable or overly harsh, but it is a little irritating. Even on smooth bits of road, you’ll feel the car fidgeting around on its 18in alloys, and it never really settles down regardless of speed or road surface. The MG4 and most other electric rivals offer a calmer ride and more composed handling.

The Ora 03 isn’t as refined as the MG4, either, with a bit more audible road roar inside the car on a motorway. The brake pedal feel is reasonably smooth though, and there’s a one-pedal driving function.

"Better tyres would help the Funky Cat to get off the line better, because I found that it can struggle for traction when pulling away quickly, especially in cold and damp conditions." – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

The GWM Ora 03 has a decent driving position that offers a good range of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel to help you get comfortable. What’s more, the driving position lines you up with the pedals and steering wheel better than in the MG4, which offsets everything to the left.

Visibility out of the front of the car is good, with the pillars never intruding into your view out at junctions. The same can be said for the view over your shoulder, but not out of the back window, which is rather small. Even so, parking won’t be an issue thanks to the standard fit rear parking sensors and 360-degree camera. 

Every Ora 03 gets a 10.3in digital driver display. It has reasonably sharp graphics but some of the text and numbers are on the small side. The top of the steering wheel might cut off part of the screen for some drivers, depending on how they have the seat and steering wheel set up.

The driver display is joined to a 10.3in touchscreen infotainment system mounted centrally on the dashboard. It has sharp graphics but small text, which is often difficult to read. On top of that, the layout is clunky and the screen is inconsistent in how it responds to touch inputs.

Actions that would be simple using buttons – adjusting the temperature, for example – have to be done using the screen, which is more fiddly. There are some button controls on the steering wheel and centre console, as well as a voice command system, but it’s still not an easy system to use while you’re driving.

You get built-in sat nav, DAB radio and Bluetooth with every Ora 03 but Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are not yet available. However, GWM Ora plans to add them some time this year, and existing owners should be able to add them with an over-the-air software update.

The interior is available in a choice of bright colour schemes that highlight the pleasant soft-touch materials on the dashboard and door inserts. There are also some fancy-looking chrome toggle switches, which look classy and have a good quality feel.

Unfortunately, after a great first impression of perceived quality, you realise that there are swathes of cheap-feeling plastic, including a First Edition badge that looks as though it was bought from a pound shop and quickly glued on to the base of the centre console. The plush-feeling materials higher up are let down by the cheaper-feeling stuff around the centre console.

Overall, once the wow factor wears off, this is only really as impressive as the mediocre interior of the MG4. The Mazda MX-30 is in a different league entirely.

"While the 10.25in touchscreen is impressively sharp, I often found myself peering closely at the icons, because they're just that dinky." – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

A tall driver and front passenger will have no problems when it comes to space, because the GWM Ora 03 gives them plenty of head and leg room. There’s decent shoulder room too, so you shouldn’t find that you’re rubbing shoulders as you drive along. Better still, you’ll find some helpful cubbies and cupholders dotted throughout the interior, to hold on to your coffees and such. The door bins are on the small side, though.

Rear leg room is fairly impressive, with plenty for friends who are six feet tall. Head room is fairly good too, but the sloping roofline cuts into the space over the head rests, so it's not as generous as in the Cupra Born if you’re a six-footer. 

While the rear seats are decent overall by small electric car standards, the Ora 03's boot is tiny, with a capacity of just 228 litres, and there's no front boot to make up for it. That space was enough for just four carry-on suitcases when we tried it. That's two more than the All-Electric Fiat 500 but one less than the MG4 and three short of the seven the Renault Megane E-Tech swallowed.

There’s a huge loading lip at the entrance to the boot, making heaving heavy items in and out difficult, and plenty of wheel-arch intrusion eats into the available width. For more space, you can fold down the rear seats in a 60/40 split, but because there’s no adjustable boot floor, you’re left with a fairly large step up from the floor to the seatbacks. Plenty of rival electric cars manage to offer good rear space and a more generous boot.

"The boot is tiny. Not only did I only manage to squeeze just four carry-on suitcases under the parcel shelf, but I had to remove one of the charging cables to achieve it." –  Claire Evans, Consumer Editor

At launch, there was only one version of the GWM Ora 03 available to buy, called the First Edition, and as a cash purchase, it was cheaper than the Cupra Born and VW ID 3 but a bit more expensive than most of its closest rivals. Those rivals include the All-Electric Fiat 500, the Renault Zoe and the Peugeot e-208 – all of which have longer ranges between charges. The MG4 Standard Range can travel further than the Ora 03 is several thousand pounds cheaper.

The Ora 03 is also predicted to lose its value fairly quickly, depreciating more over three years than the Born, the MG4 and the ID 3. As a result, you might find that finance deals are not as competitive and that you’ll likely sell it for less after three years. You can check the latest prices using our New Car Deals service.

GWM Ora does give you lots of equipment as standard for your money, though. That includes adaptive cruise control with steering assistance, keyless entry and start, LED headlights with high-beam assist and a 360-degree camera. Strangely, you don’t get heated seats and can’t even add them as an option.

The Ora 03 has a rather mediocre maximum charging speed of 64kW, meaning it will take at least 40 minutes to do a 10-80% charge. The MG4 can manage 100kW, so although it has a bigger battery, it can reach a full charge more quickly.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this new model is its safety. It received the full five-star rating from Euro NCAP and gets some good-to-have kit, including traffic-sign recognition and a driver monitor system as standard.

We don't yet have any reliability data for GWM Ora or its 03 yet, so we can’t say how well it will fare over the years. It comes with a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty as standard.

"I was pleased to see the Ora 03's warranty is longer than the typical three years you get with a lot of cars, but rival brands like Kia and Toyota offer more – seven years and 10 years respectively." – Steve Huntingford, Editor

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