Another Cheap EV! Does Ora Beat MG4? (GWM Ora / Funky Cat 2023 Review) 

The name actually comes from an old chinese saying that Deng Xiaoping was fond of quoting..."it doesn't matter if it is a black cat or a white cat. As long as it catches mice, it is a good cat"

This is where I think electric cars should sit. They are perfect for that 2nd car as a cheap city run around with occasional highway trips. I think GWM have nailed it here.

I think we've gotten so used to expensive cars, especially those from Germany that we react negatively to cars that are priced less than them. The truth is that some of the cars from established brands are simply too expensive. That's why in markets where buyers have a bigger choice like north America, European cars don't sell as well. For me value is more important than price and I believe Chinese cars have caught up with established brands when it comes to value for money. They're no longer cheaply put together knockoffs

Between the MG 4, GWM Ora/Ora Funky Cat and BYD Dolphin, I'm finding myself really excited by this race to the sub-AU$40k mark for EVs! I've been watching pretty much every video i can find on these three. I do like the Ora Cat a lot - it's very cute! In my opinion the MG 4 is currently the most compelling of the trio. But I'm eager to see how the Dolphin stacks up in detailed reviews once it's available.

The bad part of my brain wants to add a L to the end of that rear badging.

Should do a side by side comparison with the dolphin, mg4 and this ora when its all available.

I drove this car in Malaysia it’s got really good fit and finish❤

Very happy to see you on screen tom...

Is there a typo on that 0-100? That's somewhat below the claimed 0-100. I'm picking up mine next week so I hope it goes that fast!

look forward to a full spectrum comparison with dolphin vs mg4 vs ora

Our MG 4 Excite 51 has already beaten GWM Ora / Ora Funky Cat in price tag. The Funky Cat had the same price tag of MG ZS EV Excite which mean I should pick a car that has more metal ie. MG ZS EV Excite is bigger with the same price tag as the Funky Cat. Perhaps the MG 4 has woken GWM to lower the price tag of the Funky Cat.

At least you can get your hands on one Tom (unlike many new vehicles you test drive in Australia lately...ahhh errrr Cupra Born for example, I did some research on this new Cupra brand the other day, thought maybe VW/Skoda Dealers in Australia might carry the brand, nope. I found.......1......dealer up in Artarmon North Sydney, I think they had 1 Cupra Born there....1 dealer that's anywhere near me.......that had cars you could test drive.) GWM maybe producing currently some of the worst cars to reach our shores, worst electric cars (this Ora with its nasty cheap rear torsion beam and dull steering, and still a bit expensive for what the car specs are)...........BUT hell look at the Great Wall Motor Dealers sprawled all over the length and width of our big country!!!!.............You could get one of these new cute Ora's in the spec you want, and actually test drive one, just down you local road, and more importantly return your car to base easily, so as not to void your 7 year warranty. That has to be worth something, doesn't it, Tom, and all. Edit: ;) Still GWM in 2023 have absolutely NO excuse for not putting the indicator stalk on the "correct" and "safe" right side of the steering wheel for Right Hand Drive Markets (China ofc is a LHD market).......and Cupra in 2023, same, they have absolutely NO excuse for also leaving the indicator stalk on the wrong side of the steering wheel for their RHD markets, and also, they have absolutely, NO excuse for not changing the silly wiper blades around to the correct side for a RHD market (with the leading wiper on the wrong side of the car, passenger side, throws water every swipe, over the drivers side window area, as that wiper is "leading" on the return down swipe (hard to put it in words Lol, you all know what I mean), the little Ora made in China at half the price, can get the wiper blade thing right, why can't Cupra?......for 66K plus, really an indicator stalk on the correct side of the steering wheel, and the wiper blades swapped over to the correct orientation for safety while driving in the rain, is that really too much to ask these days guys? Again after paying Cupra 66K plus?..its not 1967 anymore, yeah we all excused the Alfa Romeo's from those days...its 2023 fgs. But hey, I'm an aussie, who the hell uses their blinkers anyway? And we don't drive in the rain here, in heavy rain, we all wait till the rain stops, then go for a drive......................right. But I still like this new little all electric Ora hatchback!!!! Range is ok I think. Heaps better than a similarly priced Mazda MX30 Electric or a Mini e. And It doesn't look like most other boring looking hatchbacks, like a MG4 or a Cupra Born (Cupra can not, not look like a VW ID.3 ie a grannies shopping hatch!) etc.

Good job, Tom. The Ora has one on all its rivals at the moment and that is the servicing costs. $99 and 15,ooo km a year for the warranty period is right on point and where all the rivals should be. Unfortunately, at least with the Atto 3, there are too many players greedily raising the cost of service. Electric vehicles should be cheap for service, but most are rivaling ICE cars for cost.

As far as I can see, the strength of the Good Cat is its two-tone interior (on one model) and having 360 degree cameras for parking in the base model. I have driven the MG4 and it is beautiful to drive but you have to pay more money for the parking aids. If I needed a car for winding country roads, the MG4 would be the car but for the close up cut and thrust of city driving the Ora seems best. As for range, I find the 220 km effective range of the MG ZS EV Mk1 perfectly adequate for a city car so a 300 km range would be fine.

Really good balue

Looks like a Nissan Micra or a Nissan Juke ( earlier models).

Upgrade to a decent set of alloys would help things a lot…

Wow those servicing costs are what we believed EVs should be. Well done GWM

Look forward to the Dolphin review after which you can give your overall between the three cheapest EV's on our roads.

Have they fixed the Lane keep Assist? It should be able to be turned off Once not everytime you get into the Car. Apparently the excuse is it lowers the Dictator insurance cost by doing so. Having seen others test it over longer periods it seems Lane Keep Assist is more a Hazard than a Help. It can take the steering wheel and jerk it towards oncoming traffic and even if it jerked you the other way it is still dangerous. Insurance companies that ignore this will see a large class action in the future.

You’d have to agree that there is something “Mini-esque” about the Ora. At almost half the price 😊

Importantly, the shorter range has a more resilient LFP battery…

A friend and I have test driven one, and we both really liked it (and we both own Tesla 3s). Even though it looks like a tiny bubble car on the outside, we were impressed by the amount of space inside - not unlike a Corolla say. And the dashboard style etc. very nice. It drove really well, and the auto pilot was very easy to use and reliable. But yeah the range is a problem. Overall very impressed, especially for the price👍.

Slogans like Good Cat, Funky Cat, “BUILD YOUR DREAMS” on the back of cars, names like Dolphin, Seal, etc. These Chinese manufacturers seem to be making great cars (love my China made Tesla M3 and BYD Atto 3) but the marketing should be left to the local distributors. What works in China is cringy and grating in Australia. Guess it says a lot for the merit of the cars that people still buy them in spite of the cringy marketing haha

I am probably going to go with the MG4, RWD and larger boot meets my needs better. But I am definitely going to test drive all three, Ora, Dolphin, MG4. (or 4 with the Cupra) Definately going to be peoples second car for city driving.

Wish GWM would sell the Ora in the US 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

Next game changer is the MG4 XPower at uk price of £36,495 is cheaper than any rivals and 0-62mph in 3.8 but tested at 3.5 bring a super car speed at normal money + I hope this gt version was going to be fast but unfortunately nope so MG4 XPOWER it is for me

i think this and the Dolphin are $8-10k overpriced... if they're mid $30k i'll be tempted... at this stage i'll stay @ ICE

Still too expensive at aud40k ish.

No spare wheel? that's deal breaker.....

Fake 420km range claim (for the extended range). It's around 330km, very low for a 63kw battery!!. MG4 is better value, and reflected in the Aussie sales figures to date. Worldwide sales figures for MG4 v Ora, v revealing. $48k for an Ora - pretty bubble car - ain't money well spent. Or, for 12-15k more buyers can get a Tesla Model 3 which is the ultimate value and better in every way. If plus AUD60k is too much of a stretch, then the MG4 offers the best value at this point in time. But the sales stats don't lie. The GWM Ora's been around for about 5 years now and isn't selling well anywhere. Tesla's small hatch (M2/Q?) due late 24, early 25 will be a game-changer for the small EV market and have GWM, BYD, MG lying awake at night.

No Funky Cat. Ora means no

The MG4 64kw is much better EV.

What's your hang-up with "Old School" USB ports? You use them to charge your phone or tablet or whatever, not transfer huge amounts of data. Most devices come with a USB-C to USB-A cable, if they have a cable at all. To get hold of a USB-C to USB-C cable usually requires buying one. You don't NEED USB-C in a car and if a car only has USB-C ports, you're going to have more useability issues than with USB-A. Get over it.

Rubbish car even in China. I am Chinese living in Australia. This car will not last long and the warranty is a joke even in Chinese. 47K is not cheap for that small car. You can get top specs small SUV or middle specs mid SUV. If you need an electrical car, just go with Tesla. Model 3 is not much expensive than that.