REVIEW: GWM Ora Good Cat – Fancy A Funky, Feline-themed EV Hatch?

The local EV market space is getting more exciting these days as a slew of Chinese EV brands have entered the market, bringing their latest and greatest in an attempt to sway Malaysians away from the usual European and Korean suspects.

One of which happens to be Great Wall Motor (GWM), which introduced its Ora Good Cat contender with palpable hype. Like its name suggests, this compact EV hatch features cat-themed aesthetics and design that doesn’t fail to turn heads.

The GWM Ora Good Cat is a no ordinary-looking EV, indeed.

While it seems like a quick cash-grab gimmick on the surface, our views were swiftly turned once we got down to testing it. We spared nothing to chance in our test, having subjected the Good Cat through both daily urban driving duties plus a quick hillclimb up towards Pahang’s famed Genting Highlands mountain retreat.

Having spent nearly a week with it in its range-topping 500 Pro variant form, we discovered there was indeed more to things than just funky, cat-like looks and aesthetics. Allow us to digress…

OVERVIEW

It is important to note that the GWM brand isn’t new in the local market, with the firm previously offering various combustion-powered models under its Haval sub-brand. Though these garnered lukewarm market reception at best, GWM seems to have re-energised itself through the all-electric Ora Good Cat.

Both the rounded headlights and five-spoke wheel design are 'inspired' by a certain German sportscar

Think the rounded LED headlights look similar to certain rear-engined German sportscar? Well, you’re not wrong in thinking so as the Ora Good Cat was penned by Emmanuel Derta who was from Porsche prior. More Porsche influences can also be seen through the 18-inch five-spoke wheels, which resembles those on a classic 911.

You're not to be blamed if you can't spot the Good Cat's tiny taillights at your first go

While its side profile features the typical hatchback silhouette, the Good Cat’s rear sees some flared-out wheel arches that gives it a pretty wide stance. One can be forgiven for not being able to locate where the car’s taillights are, as they are somewhat hidden just below the rear windscreen in the form of an elongated LED bar.

Don't let its funky facade fool you, the Good Cat is a sizable 'cat' indeed

Other than that, GWM also did a great job in masquerading this EV as a compact-looking hatchback. Measuring 4,235 MM long with a 2,650 MM wheelbase, and 1,825 MM wide, the Ora Good Cat is a sizable car indeed. In fact, it’s not far-off from the rivalling BYD Atto 3 that boasts a wheelbase of 2,720 MM.

Simply put, GWM has successfully made the Ora Good Cat stand out against the crowd, even amongst other EVs available in the market. Don’t believe us? Just ask the random passers-by who stopped to take photos of the car throughout our test.

ON THE INSIDE

Things are equally funky on board as the cabin also comes with an optional two-tone finish to match with the exterior. Up front lies the dual display layout that crowns above the faux suede-wrapped dash. Being a relatively-affordable EV, the Good Cat features a slew of hard plastic trims lining the cabin that smartly ‘hides’ within the aforementioned faux suede upholstery.

Several Android apps like Spotify and Google Maps are accessible via Android Auto connectivity

On par with other modern EVs, the 10.25-inch infotainment system comes standard with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, albeit via wired connection. Though the interface is intuitive, said display does suffer with noticeable lag from time to time, especially when connected with a smartphone itself.

While the display is alright, the car's steering wheel is somewhat big!

Drivers, on the other hand, get a smaller but equally-intuitive 7-inch digital display mounted behind the sizable ‘leather’-wrapped steering wheel. The latter does come with familiarly-positioned buttons for both the infotainment and driving-related controls.

Though the air vents switches are fine, the rotary-style gear shifter can be someone's new pet peeve

Like the Atto 3, the Ora Good Cat also boasts several ‘unconventional’ touches. This includes the aviation-inspired and chromed climate switches, cat-embossed floor mats, as well as the rotary gear shifter – something many will need time to get accustomed with indeed.

Rear seat passengers have little to complain about, as the seat here is both plush and comfy. There’s also ample legroom and general space here, though we must highlight the slight lack of headroom. The relatively thick C-pillar and small rear windscreen also do little in alleviating claustrophobia, but the panoramic sunroof present thankfully does.

To wrap things up, the Ora Good Cat manages to retain its quirky design theme even on board, while its full-swing of equipment should be enough to make it viable against other segment rivals. Now, to the most important bit…

DRIVING

Being a lower-riding EV hatch, it is no surprise that the Ora Good Cat offers better driving and handling dynamics compared to a similarly-priced EV SUV rival. This is largely due to the high tech GWM L.E.M.O.N. platform it underpins, which was designed for  both partially and fully-electrified setups. This also sees the battery pack cleverly tucked beneath the car’s floor, thus providing a lower centre of gravity.

The single motor can propel the Ora Good Cat up the twisty Genting road just fine!

While the car’s front-mounted single motor output of 134 HP and 210 NM seems underwhelming compared to other EVs, it is more than sufficient to propel this 1,510 KG (kerb) EV up the steep hills, just like we did during our hillclimb trip up to Genting Highlands.

These Giti tyres performed rather well, at least better than the superhero-named one...

This also meant that the Ora Good Cat fared better than most rivalling EV SUVs when it comes to tackling corners through twisty B-roads. Also, whilst we were initially sceptical of the Giti tyres shod on the 18-inch wheels mentioned, these performed rather decently during our hillclimb too.

Beyond that, the winning traits here are the smoothness of the single-speed direct drive transmission’s action, as well as the overall ride comfort. The only thing spoiling the latter is perhaps the noticeable road noise intrusion in the cabin, but we reckon this isn’t a deal-breaker as the noise level from which is far from unbearable to say the least.

Aside from that schtick, the Ora Good drives surprisingly well, with ample beans and means to make it competent for the daily.

BATTERY, CHARGING, & RANGE

Perhaps this is where we found the Good Cat falling a tad bit short against its rivals. In this range-topping 500 Pro form, the Ora Good Cat harnesses a 63.1-kWh ternary lithium battery pack. On paper, at least, it all seems more than enough for this EV hatch.

At 43% state-of-charging, GWM claims the Good Cat can still go as far as 200 KM...

While GWM claims this battery pack is good for up to 500 KM of range, we managed to get around 300- to 350 KM of range from a single full charge. Mind you, this includes our trip up to Genting Highlands too, which we’d reckon has eaten a huge chunk of the Good Cat’s battery life.

We managed to get 42 kW charging rate from a 200 kW-rated DC charger here

For casual urban driving, perhaps you’ll get closer to the claimed range. Also, the Good Cat’s rather ‘sluggish’ 60 kW DC charging rate also didn’t help to mitigate this shortcoming, with a full charge at this rate taking approximately 60 minutes. AC charging, on the other hand, is capped to 7 kW, which is good enough for your daily overnight charging via a wallbox.

We even tested the slower 7 kW-rated AC charging using this ChargeSini public AC charger

To sum up, we advise you to take the estimated range with a grain of salt. However, with enough self-discipline and proper planning, you shouldn’t find yourselves and the car needing a rescue on a flatbed either.

SAFETY

Fortunately, the Ora Good Cat boasts an arsenal of features expected in any modern car nowadays. On the active safety front, there’s enough here to make it seem as if this cat-like hatch can almost drive itself. In fact, it has Level 2 semi-autonomous driving abilities to boot.

Safety features are abundant in the Ora Good Cat!

Key ADAS features primed include Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Traffic Jam Assist (TJA), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with Front Collision Warning (FCW), Lane-Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), as well as Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) with Rear Collision Warning (RCW) and many more.

Though we weren’t able to put all these ADAS features through a proper test, we’d like to add that the addition of Traffic Jam Assist is neat, especially for those who face the traffic hellscape that is the Klang Valley on the daily.

Elsewhere, passive safety features like ABS with EBD, TCS with Cornering Brake Control, as well as the six airbags make the Ora Good Cat a safe car to drive. So safe that even the Euro-NCAP gave it a 5-star rating.

SHOULD YOU BUY ONE?

In range-topping 500 Pro form as tested, which sees a bigger battery capacity, the addition of driver massage seats and more, the GWM Ora Good Cat is priced at RM169,800 on-the-road sans insurance. Said figure puts it slightly above the range-topping BYD Atto 3 Extended Range variant we tested prior, which boasts a slightly smaller battery pack, albeit with similar range.

Had this been a combustion-powered offering, said figure might be perceived as a premium indeed, especially for those who seek to use it as a second car. But perhaps its quirky, head-turning style is enough to entice some into its favour. For those who are more pragmatic, this might be a hard sell over its seemingly more ‘sensible’ rival that is the Atto 3.

Nevertheless, the inclusion of a 5-year or 150,000 KM vehicle warranty, and a separate 8-year or 180,000 KM EV battery warranty, should alleviate sceptics, and perhaps some of the qualms most people have about EV ownership, especially China-made ones. You also won’t have to pay for the labour charges on your first five services.

Clearly, GWM have specced the Ora Good Cat to pin it against the BYD Atto 3 as a viable first EV choice for many Malaysians who are keen to jump into the EV bandwagon. With almost similar specifications and pricing, it is almost useless to pick a winner, as we think both cars will cater to different consumer sets perfectly.

Surely, despite its few shortcomings, the GWM Ora Good Cat is definitely worth your serious consideration, especially at this sub-RM200,000 price point.

SPECIFICATIONS
GWM ORA GOOD CAT 500 PRO EV