Should I buy one?

Being an early adopter always comes with caveats, and in the case of the Ora 03 they’re that the car itself feels pretty unfinished in places. The issues are mainly centred around the infotainment and tech, with the hard product – the car and its driving dynamics – actually pretty competent.

The biggest problem the 03 has is that, no matter how cute it looks, people need to be willing to pay a premium over talented rivals such as the MG4 EV – and with an unknown brand, that’s an uphill struggle.

If you like the styling and enjoy its fun interior, you likely won’t be disappointed by the car’s undemanding driving dynamics. But we’ll hold out hope for a software update to fix some of our bigger complaints with the car.

What we like

You get an awful lot of car for your money given most similarly priced rivals are smaller. An MG4 EV can be had for cheaper still, although that car’s low-rent interior won’t appeal to everyone. The cabin is certainly a more inviting place, showing up Volkswagen in the process.

Equipment levels are generous and there’s plenty of space inside for people, too. A comfortable ride helps make it that bit easier to live with day to day.

What we don’t like

We really gripe with the boot. It’s much smaller than other electric cars with a similar footprint and even gets beaten by some superminis. The range is a bit mean on 48kWh versions and the rapid charging rate is nothing to write home about these days. Worst are the driver aids – they’re simply unfinished.

You’ll find more entertaining EVs to drive such as the Cupra Born and MG4 EV and it’s frustrating the cars don’t ship with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.