• Ora 03 is relatively cheap to buy
• Low running costs typical of a small EV
• Too early to know if Ora is a dependable brand

What are the running costs?

There are two variants of the Ora 03 available to buy, the Pure+ and Pro+. They’re both high specification set-ups, which while they’re cheaper than a Volkswagen ID.3 or Cupra Born are pricier than a MINI Electric or MG4 EV. With poorer predicted residuals than these rivals you won’t be able to sell the Ora 03 for as much either, though finance packages are proving very competitive.

As for day-to-day running costs, the Ora being fully electric means it’s highly dependent on where you charge up. Use pricey public fast chargers, and you won’t see too much of a saving compared with petrol or diesel alternatives. Charge up overnight using cheap rates of electricity and you might find you save a packet.

The Ora 03’s 48kWh battery should take around seven hours for a full charge from a home wallbox, while the 63kWh version adds an hour to that. Charging out in public isn’t as impressive as its rivals, as it can only top up at a maximum of 64kW – that means a 15-80% charge will take more than 40 minutes, which is quite slow these days. A Fiat 500 Electric can manage 10-80% in a shorter time, as can an MG4 EV with its bigger battery.

GWM claims the 48kWh Ora 03 will return up to 193 miles on a charge and 260 for the 63kWh version. We saw around 136 miles in our tests for the smaller version, though given the cold weather we were experiencing we’d expect this figure to be slightly higher in the summer. Expect just over 200 miles from the larger battery version.

Servicing and warranty

As GWM Ora is such a new car brand, the number of dealers around the country is still quite limited but is constantly growing. At the time of writing, there are 30 sites operating across the UK, but this figure will increase every month, according to the firm.

GWM offers a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which is generous.

Reliability

It’s too early to know whether the Ora 03 is reliable or not. The brand and the car are both new to the UK, though Great Wall Motors has been producing cars in its native China for years so it’s not exactly new to the game.