In China, automaker Ora is known as a sore thumb as the Great Wall electric small car brand. Nobody in Europe knows the manufacturer, who is only too happy to rely on electric cars in retro design. That should change after the IAA 2021 in Munich.
Great Wall Motors is coming to Europe and shows right at the start with its two brands GWM Ora and Wey where the journey should go. While GWN Ora is to be positioned as an electric small and compact car brand, Wey is knocking on the premium goals of the German manufacturers. “With GWM ORA we are building a completely new lifestyle brand in Europe. We are addressing a fashion and lifestyle-oriented target group and integrating the brand into the culture of a progressive urban generation,” explains Rebecca Grajecki, Brand and Marketing Director Europe for WEY and GWM ORA.
These round, googly eyes of the Ora Cat should appeal to women in particular. This also applies to the price, because the basic version of the 4.24-meter-long electric car from China will cost just 30,000 euros and will also be available in Europe from next year. A motor on the front axle with a maximum torque of 126 kW / 171 PS / 250 Nm provides the same propulsion of the 1.5-tonne electric model. Thanks to the 63 kWh battery, the Ora Cat One offers a battery range of 400 kilometers. From a standing start it goes to 50 km / h in 3.8 seconds and 100 km / h in 8.3 seconds. The governed top speed is 160 km / h. Technically, the compact model with the dimensions of a VW Golf is on the road on the Great Wall platform Lemon.
The retro charm from the face can only be found to a limited extent at the rear of the Chinese. The high-seated LED taillights that stretch from one side to the next underneath the window line stand out primarily here. However, loading and unloading the cargo area will not be a pleasure with the high loading sill. It looks more pleasant inside, because the Ora Cat has plenty of space and two large digital screens in this class. The settings of the respective driver are not done by a key or a chip card, but by face identification that sets the radio transmitter, air conditioning or seating position depending on the driver. Updates are available “over the air” – also thanks to 5G radio technology. The GWM Ora Cat can be pre-ordered from the end of the year. Deliveries are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2022.
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
