Written by Keith Adams Updated: 22 January 2025

Overview

The GWM Ora 03 was originally launched as the Funky Cat, a cheesy name for a fresh, fun and, er, funky-looking small family-sized electric car that offers a lot of space and tech for the money. GWM, or Great Wall Motors, is a large Chinese car firm that continues to try to break into the UK successfully in the way that MG and BYD have.

The Ora 03 has a tough job, taking its place in the list of best cheap electric cars. But before you get too confused, it isn’t as small as it looks in photographs. Despite looking like a Renault 5 E-Tech or Fiat 500 rival, it comes in at 4,235mm long and 1,825mm wide, making it only slightly shorter and a little wider than a Volkswagen Golf or ID.3.

That means it’s up against the BYD Dolphin and the former Parkers Car of The Year-winning MG4 EV. That size endows it with good passenger space but comes at the expense of boot room, making this less of a practical option for families and more of a rival to the fashion-forward MINI and Fiat.

What’s it like inside?

The Ora 03’s retro-futuristic styling continues inside, where cream-coloured plastics with blue satin flashes lend the cabin a much brighter ambiance than most of its rivals. Everything feels well screwed-together, which isn’t always the case in cars from Chinese manufacturers. While it’s not as plush as a MINI Electric, it’s certainly an improvement on an MG4 EV.

The clean-looking dashboard is dominated by a pair of 10.25-inch screens, one for infotainment and another for the instruments. In terms of clarity and brightness, they’re certainly on a par with most rivals, though the massive steering wheel has a tendency to block out one edge of the infotainment display depending on how you sit.

Physical switchgear is minimal. You get five controls underneath the screen – the hazard lights plus a few climate control shortcuts, though the majority of heating and ventilation is controlled through the screen. The steering wheel is also peppered with controls, which while they appear to be touch-sensitive are actually proper buttons.

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Infotainment and tech

A few minutes with the Ora 03’s infotainment system shows that the gloss and polish of the rest of the interior doesn’t extend to the software. The interface here is really poor, with an array of problems that we’d like to see fixed in the next generation of GWM’s infotainment software. Too much of the interface is based around these controls which often combine text-heavy labels with minuscule virtual toggle switches.

After being omitted from early cars, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now included, but it’s disappointing that it’s taken so long for Ora to introduce this important feature. At least the Ora 03 isn’t missing much else by way of tech – there’s a 360-degree camera setup, keyless entry and start, built-in navigation and internet radio connectivity.

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How much space is there?

Space up front is plentiful with good headroom, helped by the Ora 03’s tall roofline. There’s enough adjustment fore and aft in the driver’s seat for drivers of all heights, though it’s difficult to find a driving position where the steering wheel doesn’t block quite a large chunk of the infotainment display.

Space in the rear is good too. Though the tapered sides mean the particularly broad-shouldered might find their upper bodies a bit hemmed in, once again there’s plenty of headroom and good legroom for a small car. It’s on par with a Volkswagen ID.3 in this regard, and way ahead of similarly-priced rivals such as the Citroen e-C3 and Renault 5 E-Tech.

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Boot space and storage

The boot is unimpressive, and it’s small for a car of this size. It’s just 228 litres in capacity, with a deep sill to lift items over and a sharply raked rear window preventing you from carrying taller items. The rear seats do fold down easily, though they don’t leave a totally flat floor when they do. At least the tiny parcel shelf won’t be a problem to store.

Stowage for oddments on the inside is reasonable, with slim door bins, a small cubby under the armrest and a secure, grippy phone tray ahead of that equipped with wireless charging. Further forward still you have two cupholders, which are set rather low, and a large open tray for odds and ends.

Comfort

Passenger comfort in the Ora 03 is largely excellent for a small electric car – it’s one of the highlights of the whole car. Not only do you get plenty of space, but the seats themselves are comfortable, though broad-shouldered rear passengers will find themselves a little bit hemmed in by the car’s teardrop roofline.

The Ora 03’s bulbous shape and small, high rear window means you’ll want to rely on its reversing camera and parking sensors. It’s not an especially large car, but it is wider than many of its competitors so you might find it slightly more difficult to squeeze into tight parking bays.

Safety

When tested by Euro NCAP the Ora’s predecessor, the Funky Cat, it scored a full five stars. While its crash scores were impressive it did particularly well in the safety assist category, aided by a vast collection of driver aids almost unheard of at this price point. It was so good Euro NCAP decided to name it the Safest Small Family Car for 2023.

The Ora 03 has adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping aids that assist on the motorway, as well as blind-spot monitoring and automatic parking tech. There’s also a driver attention monitor on the A-pillar that tracks your eyes to make sure you’re paying attention to the road and chides you if you look away for too long.

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GWM Ora 03 battery range and charging

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 to 80% charge will take more than 40 minutes – which is slow by today’s standards.

GWM claims the 48kWh Ora 03 will return up to 192 miles on a charge and 261 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.

Motor and battery options

You get either a 48kWh or 63kWh battery powering a 171hp motor and driving the front wheels, with the same performance figures claimed for all. Acceleration is pretty nippy – 0-30mph comes up in 3.8 seconds, and the 0-62mph time quoted at 8.3 seconds. Maximum speed is limited to 99mph.

The single electric motor gives good if not outstanding performance. It’s responsive off the line and acceleration doesn’t tail off too much as you approach motorway speeds unlike some EVs. A Peugeot e-208 is similarly swift, but the MG4 EV is usefully quicker.

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What’s it like to drive?

Pretty undemanding. The Ora 03 isn’t quite as comfortable as an MG4 EV, but it feels better tied down over undulating country roads. That means the Ora 03 isn’t as sharp as this or a Renault 5 E-Tech in the bends, with a bit more lean and a little less agility. Still, the steering proves precise and well-weighted so it’s easy to carve through corners, and the handling is safe and predictable.

The electric motor is quiet enough with the expected distant whirr, but wind and road noise prove to be the problem. Get up to motorway speeds and you’ll be reaching for the stereo dial to keep things civilised. There are selectable driving modes, which as in most rivals are better left untouched.

Eco+ limits top speed to 55mph and reduces acceleration, while Sport weights up the steering and makes the throttle response hyperactive. Normal is the best choice of the three, though don’t be tempted by ‘auto’ which sometimes slips the car into Eco+ without your consent. There are also adjustable levels of regenerative braking, though even the strongest isn’t very powerful and won’t take you down to a full stop.

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What are the running costs?

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 at home using cheap rates of electricity and you might find you save a packet.

As GWM is such a new car brand, the number of dealers around the country is still quite limited but is growing. At the time of writing, there are 30 sites operating across the UK, and the firm offers a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which is generous.

What models and trims are available?

The Ora 03 range has been realigned for 2025, introducing a new entry-level trim and more competitive pricing. The new Pure variant replaces the Pure+ and retains much of that model’s equipment. So it retains the twin 10.25-inch screens with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 360-degree camera and a facial recognition system.

Sitting above the Pure is the Pro, which replaces the Pro+, is considerably cheaper than that model and gets the larger battery for that 261-mile driving range. It also gets heated front seats, front parking sensors and an automatic parking system. Sitting at the top of the model range is the GT, which gains sporty(!) looks, a launch-control system and an efficiency-boosting heat pump.

Click through to our full, expert verdict on the GWM Ora 03 – does its undeniable low price make up for some of its shortcomings? If you’d like to learn more about how we reached our decision on the car, check out our how we test cars explainer page.