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2023 Ora Funky Cat 400 Pro+ review

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Hardly funky.

In an industry where car companies spend millions naming their cars you’d need a large amount of confidence to call yours a Funky Cat. Some background: Ora is part of the Chinese Great Wall Motor Company (GWM) that’s headquartered in Baoding, Hebei that’s located about 170km from Beijing in Northern China. The company was founded in 1984 and cut its teeth in building trucks and SUVs and is a leading player in the Chinese plug-in electric vehicle market. If the fact that in July Beijing announced curbs on exporting metals like germanium and gallium that are essential for global microchip, defence and electric car supply chain production to deliberately escalate the ongoing trade war between China, you too might conjure up a cuddly name for the car you’re hoping to flog in Europe.

Geopolitics aside, how convincing is the fully electric Ora Funky Cat and can it seriously compare as a new entrant to the European electric car market establishment? It is stacked against trusted names in the car industry from Japan and South Korea so it has to be good. I tested the Funky Cat 400 Pro+ priced in Ireland at €39,995 (including government subsidies). It uses a 63.13 kwh Ternary Lithium battery, has an electric range of 420km, consumption of 16.5kwh and 171PS power and DC Charging from 20 – 80% takes under 50 minutes.

First up is the driving experience. Or at least it should have been. On my second time starting the car I tried but could not engage reverse or even drive in the rotating gear selector that’s located in the central console. No matter what I did it never engaged. I resorted to getting out of the car and locking it two separate times. On the third attempt, it worked only for the same issue to happen two times after that in a week. That is unacceptable. Once I got moving the performance was leisurely with 0-100km time taking 8.2 seconds. That’s probably okay in city traffic but fast overtaking of vehicles on a country road demands preparation as the front wheels can easily get overwhelmed on slippery roads.

Another disappointment is the car’s excessive body roll in corners but my least favourite dynamic assessment was kept for the steering. It is far too light and offers very limited feedback so I was reluctant to explore the car’s limits of adhesion on this test. The light steering also needed continuous steering inputs to keep the car centered on motorway driving. Compared with the MG4 EV which has nicely weighted steering with good feedback the Funky Cat trails badly here. The ride was okay, if a little firm, but noise levels were below average along with a small boot and I wasn’t impressed by the slow infotainment system.

If after all that you remain intrigued by the Ora Funky Cat in 400 Pro spec and somehow like the styling that combines bits of Mini, an old Nissan Micra and mixes them both into a tallish compact car then you now need to expand your shortlist. I’d recommend the MG4 EV from €30,995 (in Ireland) as a better alternative. It may also have a Chinese parent (SIAC) but has a better claimed electric range of 450KM, is far more rewarding to drive, with a less gloopy exterior design along with residuals that are predicted to be better than the Funky Cat.

https://gwm-ora.eu/

#ElectricCarReview #EVPerformance #CarIndustry #ElectricVehicle #AutomotiveReview #CarTech #CarDesign #DrivingExperience #CarHandling #ElectricRange #CarTechnology #CarBuyers #AutomotiveIndustry

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