FUNKY TOWN (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 38

Funky Cat. Strange name. Remarkably appealing car. This trendy little Chinese EV arrived from freshly created Great Wall Motors brand Ora in 2022 and aimed to offer people seeking a small, fashionable all-electric hatch a refreshingly different option.

Modelsword count: 3

5dr Supermini (EV])

Historyword count: 198

Would you choose a car called the 'Funky Cat'? Stay with us a little before you make up your mind. You might well change it. This was a small EV from Chinese maker Great Wall Motors, who sold the cheap but uncompetitive Steed pick-up here between 2012 and 2016. They returned in late 2022 with this 'Funky Cat', a much more credible offering sold under a newly created sub-brand called Ora, which had the ambitious goal of selling up to 50,000 versions of this car a year in the UK, using a combination of selected dealers, shopping centre outlets and online selling. Initially, it's hard to get past that name isn't it? The same car was known as the 'Cat 01' or the 'Good Cat' in China. Where it was also joined in the showroom by three other variants - the 'Pink Cat', the 'White Cat' and the 'Black Cat'. Yes really. The Funky Cat sold in its initial form until the end of 2023. For 2024, GW Ora changed the name to the Ora 03 and added a further bigger 63kWh battery option into the range. It's the earlier 48kWh Funky Cat model we look at here.

What You Getword count: 708

There's a lot that's interesting about the Funky Cat's retro-stylised looks. MINI-like headlights sprout out of Porsche 911-style winged bulges that flank a twin-ridged bonnet you'll never open. Actually, it if you're looking at this Ora model as an alternative to an EV MINI, as many customers presumably will be, you need to know that it's slightly larger than one of those - measuring in at 4,235mm long and 1,825mm wide, these dimensions being more akin to a Volkswagen ID.3. And of course, it looks trendy. There are big 18-inch wheels and most early models came with two-tone paint - either 'Aurora Green with a Moonlight White' roof or 'Mars Red with a Starry Black' roof. Funky or what? It's trendy at the back too, apparently lacking rear lights, which turn out to be mounted low and come supplemented by a higher light bar at the base of the rear window. Under the skin sits Great Wall's dedicated electric vehicle platform, which goes under the unfortunate acronym of 'LEMON'. Perhaps it means something different in Chinese. Inside, where you're faced with a pair of seamlessly-joined twin screens, there are clear MINI influences - the central silver toggle switches and the steering wheel. But the Ora sub-brand also wanted to imbue its own minimalist vibe, one that's pleasantly odd, incorporating materials that are surprisingly plush in places - though a little less so in others. Choose a car featuring the extra-cost two-tone interior (which ideally you'll want to do because the alternative is boring black) and the 'funky' theme is catered for by either a green and black or red and beige colour scheme; even the stitched two-spoke steering wheel is two-tone. Areas with the lighter colour tone get a rather nice-feeling stitched microsuede finish, with quilting on the door panels. That's matched by leatherette-faced seats that come with power operation as standard. The MINI-like silver toggle switch panel in the centre of the dash we mentioned earlier deals with various climate functions, though unfortunately not the temperature control you'll most frequently want. For that, you'll need to tap rather small icons on the right hand shortcut panel of the 10.25-inch centre screen. As is the fashion, the home screen displays in widget sections - usually your audio selection accompanied either by a navigation map or media options. This screen's certainly very media-savvy, connecting you into useful apps like Deezer or Internet Radio: early cars though, were missing 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring mirroring, later added with an over-the-air update. The centre monitor has far too many tiny screen buttons, many of which (those for temperature functions for instance) are almost impossible to safely activate while driving. The right hand shortcut panel we mentioned earlier includes a little 'windows'-style short-cut menu button, a tap on which connects you into various vehicle settings, a 'Power Assisted' EV menu and a rather curious 'Skill Tree' screen, which appears to be a chemical-like diagram of all the various functions. These include a six-speaker DAB audio system, Bluetooth and a voice recognition system activated by the command “Hello Ora”. Anything else you'll need will be found on the instrument screen, also 10.25-inches in size, which like the centre screen includes rather too many small little graphics. Everything you need to know lies either to the left or the right of a Tesla-like central drive assist graphic that warns you if you're drifting out of lane. To the left of this is a digital speedo, traffic sign recognition and a battery indicator. To the right of the screen lies a section with info you can select via the touch-sensitive button on this right hand steering wheel spoke - power consumption in kW, trip data, tyre pressures, what's called 'Economical Driving Guidance' and an Energy Monitor. It's in the back that you'll notice the difference between this car and other small fashionista EVs. A relatively long wheelbase of 2,650mm means even a couple of six-footers could sit reasonably comfortably, with 720mm of legroom. Where you suffer a bit for that though, is when it comes to boot room; there's just 228-litres of it. Total capacity in the seats-folded format is 858-litres. The Funky Cat doesn't provide any additional 'frunk' space beneath the bonnet up-front.

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