GWM Ora 03

Distinctive Chinese EV is good value, but annoyances prevent it from being recommendable It’s a common playbook for emerging car manufacturers: launch with a product that might be a long way from the establishment on quality but it’s so keenly priced that it’s impossible to ignore. Then gradually ramp up the quality and gain consumer acceptance. The GWM Ora 03 (previously called the Ora Funky Cat) is a little more impatient.When it was launched two years ago, it didn't play the same value game as its MG 4 EV compatriot. The car was originally announced with a very attractive price, but Ora’s UK sales director told Autocar: “Once we saw the car and realised how high-quality the interior was, and really understood the personality of it, we realised we’ve got something really quite special and therefore we can be quite targeted in the market where it’s going to be.”Today, it is still the only product Ora offers in the UK - the bigger 07, sold as the Lightning Cat in China, is set to arrive later this year.The 03 line-up consists of two specs: Pure+ and Pro+. It starts from £31,995, positioning the car as a rival to the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, Peugeot e-208 and Volkswagen ID 3.It comes with either a 48kWh battery and a single 169bhp front-mounted motor with a WLTP range of 193 miles, or a larger 63kWh battery and an improved range of 260 miles.The 03 uses the GWM-exclusive platform named LEMON (it’s not clear what, if anything, that acronym stands for), which can also accommodate petrol engines, hybrid powertrains and, intriguingly, a hydrogen fuel cell.GWM’s literature about LEMON talks at some length about light weight, which is encouraging. Our test car tipped the scales at 1580kg, which makes it only a few kilos heavier than the smaller Corsa Electric.It takes only a brief look at the 03 to know that it is in an entirely different league from what the Chinese car industry could muster 10 years ago. Today, ‘new energy vehicles’ – as EVs are called over there – have become a specialty of Chinese manufacturers.