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Ora Funky Cat: Does the competition have to tremble in front of the electric car from China?

2023-04-11T08:59:33.960Z


Not only does it look funky. It works that way too. Ora Funky Cat is the name of the new electric car from China. Good enough for the German market?


Not only does it look funky.

It works that way too.

Ora Funky Cat is the name of the new electric car from China.

Good enough for the German market?

The appearance: Porsche Panamera at the front, flat nose at the back.

And he has fenders on the front - almost as beautifully curved as those of a BMW baroque angel or at least a VW Beetle.

This, or that, or the Ora Funky Cat is reminiscent of a bird of paradise in a certain way.

Bavarians and Bavarian vacationers also know such creatures under the generic name Wolpertinger.

The Ora kitten may be drawn idiosyncratically, but the car still looks pleasing.

Always friendly, cuddly and not at all like a compact car in the B segment, where the Chinese meets such illustrious competition as VW ID.3, Cupra Born, Renault Megane Electric.

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Blue Lightning: The Ora Funky Cat from the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors has 171 hp and gets off to a good start.

© Jan Greune/Ora

Ora Funky Cat: That's why the Chinese are so good

Competitive, the Chinese?

Serious opponents of the European auto elite?

Looks like it: Almost 300 kilometers of initial contact with the kitten on four wheels convinced us.

Almost completely.

Why not?

There are three reasons for this: First: For decades, China was Germany's workbench, the apprentice becomes a master craftsman.

Second: The electric drive is so simple that anyone can build it.

A real game changer.

And thirdly, the Chinese are simply more advanced than the Europeans when it comes to software.

Design must be: ten beautiful studies of normal car brands

Design must be: ten beautiful studies of normal car brands

Faster and more creative anyway.

You can see that with the Ora Cat from Great Wall Motors.

The workmanship is solid in any case, sometimes even premium.

The Chinese cats are upgraded especially for the German and European markets, here a better plastic, there foamed inner parts.

It already looks better in the cockpit than in the first generation of the ID.3 from Volkswagen.

And it still feels good.

The cat flatters.

Unfortunately, the Ora Funky Cat messes up the trunk

Flattering, if not lavish, is the space available for the driver and front passenger.

If only it were like that in the back!

Sure, the Ora cat is a compact car, so you have to trim in the back.

You sit comfortably, but cramped.

The trunk, however, does not deserve its name.

A modest 228 liters are available.

The loading sill is 80 centimeters high, and the loading threshold, which is also high, is impractical.

It doesn't get any better with the rear seat folded down either.

The cushions do not form a flat surface.

So the invitation becomes a torture.

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The trunk of the Funky Cat is very small.

Unfortunately, when the seat is folded down, there is no flat surface.

© Jan Greune/Ora

Not worth mentioning, because the display is now standard in wide-angle format.

Here, too, a squeaky-clean smartphone-style finish.

No wonder, after all, the cars come from the production home of Apple cell phones.

The division of tasks between the two screens is clear: the digital speedometer is behind the steering wheel, and the vehicle controls are in the middle.

The display is pretty small at 10.25 inches (approx. 26 cm).

And unfortunately also the writing.

But that should be changed with one of the next updates.

Touch screen: difficult to use, difficult to read

We were annoyed by the touch screen, which cannot be operated with tact.

Clumsy as a bear, you tap the screen surface, sometimes several times, but then actually with success.

But that's what voice control is for.

Test: "The nearest toilets?" Alex, as our digital assistant was christened, lists various options, especially motorway service stations.

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The two 10.25-inch screens are well made, the right one is unfortunately not particularly touch-sensitive.

© Ora

Stupid that we are traveling on country roads.

Another sample: “Hey Alex, how do you like Mercedes?” The computer reads out the Wikipedia entry without hesitation and citing the source.

"And what do you think of Great Wall Motors?" Notorious silence, then: "I can't comment on that." Pretty embarrassing because Great Wall Motors is the maker of the Ora cat.

Surveillance with camera: Big Brother is watching you

Swam over it - it's artificial intelligence that wants to learn about updates and daily use.

We hope the same for many an electronic assistance system.

Most of them work flawlessly.

But one thing is really annoying: the so-called emergency steering function is active above all when the streets are narrow.

If you get too close to the hard shoulder or take a sporty curve, this assistant simply grabs the steering wheel.

First you startle, with each further unnecessary steering intervention you become more and more angry.

The function can be switched off after some searching in the submenus, but it has to be done every time the car is started.

laborious.

You can find even more exciting car topics in the free newsletter from our partner 24auto.de.

And then there is the attention assistant.

In a small box on the front left of the windscreen, a camera follows the driver's every glance.

If you wander off the road for too long – warning.

"Be quick-witted, concentrate while driving!" the speaker calls out.

yes sir sorry sir

It gets really scary when Big Brother yells at smokers: “Smoking is unhealthy.

Smoke less,” it says.

The software also recognizes the flap in the corner of the mouth.

Ora's Funky Cat is great fun to drive

If you have also switched off this assistant, you can finally drive off.

At least now it is clear why the Ora Cat is still called Funky.

She looks funky and quite freaky in the truest sense of the word.

The fact that the electric motor with its 171 hp starts off so brutally, as if the neighbor's lumpi is after Schmidt's cat, is something we already know from relevant electric machines such as the MG Marvel R, but it's always a lot of fun.

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As elegant as the Ora Funky Cat looks from the front, it looks just as awkward from behind.

© Jan Greune/Ora

With the Ora, this is also combined with a good chassis that pushes the cat into corners like a sports car.

The suspension is just right on the stiff side, but also forgiving of potholed dirt roads.

If you step on the gas too hard, you will immediately notice that the Ora Cat is being driven at the front.

The tires spin, the steering wheel wobbles like pudding.

For the most part, however, the ride is quite fun, which suits the car's cheerful face.

Ora Funky Cat: Low consumption, long range

Depending on the model, the range is between 310 (48 kWh battery) and 420 (63 kWh) kilometers.

That's pretty realistic.

During the test drives, we consumed 14.9 kWh with a brisk driving style and were thus even below the specified average value of 16.7.

And even after vigorous, sporty passages, the computer only shows 17.2 kWh.

As good as the Ora Funky Cat is when it comes to consumption, it is bad when it comes to charging.

More than 67 kW is not possible: you need more patience for longer cross-country journeys.

You have to reckon with three quarters of an hour and then you only have 80 percent capacity.

But the Chinese are also working on that, as you can hear.

Is also urgently needed, because the small compact with the googly eyes is not a bargain in terms of price.

Although the cars are well equipped, it only starts at 38,990 euros (Ora Funky Cat 300).

The model with the larger battery (400 Pro) costs almost 5,000 euros more.

The GT tops the list at just under 50,000 euros.

Even such playful details as the rolling googly-eyed greeting of the headlights or the koi carp that jump from display to display when you get in cannot hide this.

(

Rudolf Boegel

)

  • ORA Funky Cat 300

  • Motor/drive e-machine/front wheel

  • Power Torque 126 (171) HP/250 Nm

  • V max / 0 - 100 km/h 160 km/h / 8.3 s

  • Length/width/height 4.24/1.83/1.60 m

  • luggage space/empty weight/perm.

    228 - 858L / 1,615kg / 355kg

  • Battery/charging capacity 45.4 kWh (net)/64 kW (DC);

    11kW (AC)

  • Consumption/range 16.7 kWh/310 km

  • Price: from 38,990 euros (without environmental bonus)     

List of rubrics: © Ulrich Schaarschmidt/Ora

Source: merkur

All tech articles on 2023-04-11

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