ORA Funky Cat Review & Prices

The Funky Cat is the first car to go on sale in the UK from Chinese car firm GWM ORA. It might look like it’s Mini-sized in photos, but it’s actually close to a Volkswagen ID3 in dimensions, so it’s closer to a small SUV than a small city car.

It might have an odd name but it feels apt, as the best way to describe this electric car's styling is, well, ‘funky’. There are shades of Fiat 500 about the rear, while the front has hints of Mini and Volkswagen Beetle. It all combines to create a handsome family car that stands out on the road.

The funkiness continues with an elaborate headlight and taillight show when you unlock it, and some fish that swim across the screens when you open the door. Cute.

Inside it’s similarly smart, with high quality materials to be found throughout. It feels much more upmarket than the ID3, for example. The twin 10.25-inch displays are crisp, clear and easy to use, with the integrated voice recognition system able to understand a wide range of accents.

The high-spec First Edition model comes fully loaded with wireless phone charging, an excellent range of cameras for parking and low speed manoeuvres, LED headlights and much more.

More good news is found in the back seats, where even taller adults will have plenty of room. It’s just as posh as the front and the arm rest has a couple of cup holders. On the down side, the Funky Cat is fairly narrow so it can be a bit of a squeeze for three adults.

The boot is the Funky Cat’s weak point. At 228 litres it’s a bit bigger than the 211 litres in the Mini Electric. But this car is the size of an ID3, which has a 385-litre boot. There’s some under-floor storage but you’ll probably have to store your cables in the main compartment, while a big load lip makes it difficult to lift heavy items in and out.

Behind the wheel, the Funky Cat is at its best in the city. The suspension is great at soaking up bumps in the road and the steering is light, making it easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Acceleration is slow to pick up from a stand still but it’s quick and responsive once on the move.

However, at motorway speeds there is a lot of wind noise, which can be annoying over long distances. It’s not as comfortable at higher speeds either, while most alternatives, such as the MG4, are more fun to drive in the corners.

The 193-mile range means that while you’ll go further per charge than in smaller options such as the Mini Electric (145 miles) and Honda e (137 miles), but not as far as the Volkswagen ID3 (250 miles) or the Peugeot e-208 (217 miles).

Overall, the ORA Funky Cat is a decent addition to the UK’s family car market. It provides a high-quality and spacious alternative to more traditional brands and outperforms them in many ways. However, its small boot and disappointing motorway driving do count against it.

If you like the look of the ORA Funky Cat and are interested in getting behind the wheel, you can head on over to our deals page to see how much you could save. Or head to our used car page for the latest nearly new electric vehicles.

Less expensive versions are on the way, but for now you can only get the car in this fully loaded First Edition trim. It’s pricier than the excellent MG4, which starts from £25,995 but it does have more kit and a posher cabin. The Volkswagen ID3 is considerably pricier at about £36,195, and despite being more practical it feels cheaper inside than this newcomer.

There are no equipment upgrades on the First Edition, but it’s an extra £595 for metallic paint or £795 for metallic paint and a two-tone interior.

Acceleration is brisk and the suspension is comfortable around town, but wind noise is annoying at motorway speeds

At launch there’s just the one battery and motor combination available. It’s a single motor powering the front wheels with 171hp, while the 48kWh battery’s 193-mile range is outgunned by many alternatives.

During our testing, consumption suggested a motorway range of about 133 miles, so you can expect a good chunk more than that if you stick to urban driving where the regenerative brakes can top the battery up on the move.

When accelerating from a standstill, there’s a noticeable pause between putting your foot down and feeling the car kick on. It’s quick once it gets going though, firing from 0-60mph in about 8.0 seconds and on to 99mph.

In town

The Ora Funky Cat is happiest when cruising around town. Here, the suspension soaks up bumps in the road making it one of the more comfortable EVs in this regard. The steering is light and makes nipping in and out of tight spots a breeze.

Because of that momentary pause when accelerating from stationary, pulling out of junctions can take a bit of pre-planning if you don’t want to get caught out. However, once you’re on the move, in-gear acceleration is brisk.

There’s a single pedal driving mode, which is great when traffic builds up because it increases regenerative braking and can stop the car without the driver touching the brakes. It would be nice to have a quick access button somewhere, though, rather than having to dig into menus to access it each time you need to.

On the motorway

On the flip side, the Funky Cat is less happy on motorways. The first thing you’ll notice is the excessive wind noise, which quickly becomes annoying and requires a little more radio volume to drown out than you might expect, given the refinement seen elsewhere.

The suspension is less composed, too. It’s not that it’s uncomfortable, it just feels like bumps in the road unsettle the car, meaning it’s always jiggling along and never quite relaxes.

There’s a lot of driver assistance technology included in the First Edition, with adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist the key advantages on the motorway, taking some of the stress out of long trips.

On a twisty road

Again, the Funky Cat isn’t at its best on a winding road. The steering is the issue here because there’s little feedback from the surface so you can’t be confident the front end has grip. The MG4 is much more confidence-inspiring in this regard, and is more fun as a result.

The driver assistance technology can be a little intrusive here, too. On tighter British roads, the lane keeping systems will often tug at the wheel because they think you’re too close to the verge. You can turn it off, but you have to do it every time you get back in the car.

The cabin is spacious both front and rear, but the boot is disappointingly small and there’s very little storage under the bonnet, either

The Ora Funky Cat’s confusing proportions are most obvious in the cabin. It looks like it should be pretty cramped, but when you jump inside it’s as spacious as a small SUV. It’s easy to get comfortable because the steering wheel adjusts for both height and reach, while the front seats are electrically adjustable.

Storage is okay, with a cubby hole beneath the arm rest, a small shelf for your phone that includes the wireless charging pad, and another small spot beneath the dashboard. The cupholders are here too, and while they’re deep and grippy they sit low behind the gear selector making them tricky to get to while on the move.

The glovebox has one of the smoothest actions on any car, gently lowering when you press the open button. However, it’s quite slow, so could prove annoying if you want to quickly grab something from inside.

Space in the back seats

Space in the rear is similarly impressive. Even taller passengers will find plenty of head, leg and knee room, though it’s a bit of a squeeze with three across the back and there’s not much support for your thighs.

There’s an armrest between the two outer seats, which has a couple of cupholders inside, or you can fit large bottles in the door bins if required. There are pockets in the back of the seats, too, with the only disappointment being a single USB slot for rear passengers.

Boot space

That impressive cabin space does come at the expense of boot space, unfortunately. At just 228 litres it’s not much bigger than the Mini Electric, and quite a bit smaller than the 267 litres found in the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, which is a much smaller car. Compared with the ID3, it’s well down on the Volkswagen’s 385 litres.

What’s more, there’s nowhere to store the parcel shelf under the floor, and only a small section to put a three-pin plug charger, so you’ll need to put the bulky Type 2 cables in a bag in the boot, eating up more room. There’s also a large load lip, which makes it tricky to load large, heavy items in and out.

Once you’ve got your baby seat in, there’s plenty of room relative to the seat in front, but the position of the rear seats and ISOFIX points make it tricky to get in in the first place. The rear seats fold 60:40, opening up 858 litres of seats-down space, but this does introduce another lip to get over when sliding items through.

The interior look and quality is a strong point for the Funky Cat, but some menu functions are fiddly to access

Jump inside the Ora Funky Cat and it’s tough to find anything to fault. There are soft and squidgy materials throughout that give a proper premium appeal. There are scratchy plastics to be found but you have to go looking for them.

There are three colour combinations to choose from, with dark grey upholstery coming as standard. Pay a little extra and you can have either a red and cream or green and cream cabin to match the exterior paint job.

The two 10.25-inch displays are clear and easy to use, responding quickly to inputs. Navigating some of the menus isn’t particularly intuitive though, so it’s a case of learning where things are when you’d probably just prefer a simple physical button to get there.

This will be less of a problem once Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included. Neither were available at launch but will be added to cars via over-the-air updates in early 2023.

One of the main disappointments is the lack of USB-C ports. Considering this car boasts cutting-edge technology in other areas, there are just two old-fashioned USB slots up front and one in the back.

Being an electric vehicle, there are no exhaust emissions to worry about. And despite electricity costs going up recently, it’ll be considerably less expensive to run than a petrol or diesel vehicle.

Charging at home is the most cost-efficient way to charge, but if you have to top up at a fast charger it will cost more. Unfortunately the Funky Cat’s maximum charge rate is 64kW, which is a disappointing speed when many alternatives can achieve more than 100kW.

Once the battery is full the Funky Cat has a 193-mile range, which is far from class-leading but better than some smaller alternatives.

Electric vehicles are particularly appealing for company car buyers because they have a benefit-in-kind tax rate of just 2% until 2025, making them considerably cheaper in tax than even a small, economical petrol-powered hatchback.

Safety-conscious buyers will likely be drawn to the Funky Cat’s vast suite of driver assistance systems. Not only did it get full marks in Euro NCAP safety testing, its huge score was beaten only by more expensive, ultra safe cars from the likes of Tesla and Lexus.

Equipment includes adaptive cruise control that will stop and start in traffic, lane keep assist, lane centring, auto emergency braking and much more.

There’s also a facial recognition system that has a variety of functions. For one, it will keep an eye on the driver and display a warning if they look drowsy or are not paying attention, for example if using their phone. It can also recognise different drivers and load appropriate settings, such as their work destination in the sat nav.

With this being the first car GWM Ora has sold in the UK, it’s unclear whether you should expect solid reliability. However, electric vehicles tend to be more reliable than combustion-engined cars, which should be reassuring.

The standard Funky Cat warranty is five years with unlimited mileage, while the battery has an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty.