Ora 03 (formerly Funky Cat)

AMKC

@ELM327 Did you get the Funky Cat yet?

ELM327

Collecting saturday morning. Busy week for car collections, I picked up my used leaf24 from auction on monday, am going with my dad tomorrow to collect his new mg5, and collecting the funky cat for herself on saturday morning!

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846885#Comment_120846885

Well did you pick up the Funky Cat yet?

How about some pictures of it when you get a chance?

ELM327

Yes collected and I put a great photo in another thread here of the 3 EVs outside the house.

Went for a long drive yesterday and it's ok, the "autopilot" is great on motorways but the annoying interrupts on back roads are not. The interface is very laggy and theres no nav or apple carplay yet either (coming with OTA - UK got added last week). It also seems a bit, weird. Like the scheduled charging just doesnt work. It sets a time but even if you set a time for 23 hours and 59 minutes of charging it wont charge at all.

The whole car feels a bit like a beta test tbh, and I would not buy one. Then again, this car is not for me. It's for herself. I have the leaf for local driving and the tesla for the rest. And she likes the quirky look of it, so ??

electricus

Think I prefer the looks of the old Leaf, the funky cat reminds me too much of that strange 90's retro Nissan (can't remember the name of it).

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120893500#Comment_120893500

Both (the leaf and the ora) are ugly in their own way but at least the ora is quirky. I know the nissan you mean, I think it;s a mitsuoka or something.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120893549#Comment_120893549

I think he just means the Nissan Figaro

Now wash your mouth out with green soap and if you ever show a picture of that Mitsuoka you're thinking of, you're permabanned from this forum 😂

electricus

Yes, the Figaro is what I was thinking, a very strange little car. The Mitsuoka takes strange to a whole new level - like Nissan's paying homage to the Homer Simpson's car!

ELM327

Ah yes, the figaro, a 1990's replica of Columbo's car which was a peugeot I think.

The Black Oil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120907290#Comment_120907290

Just for transportation and his dog.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120889507#Comment_120889507

Yes collected and I put a great photo in another thread here of the 3 EVs outside the house.

Any chance of a link to that thread. Thanks.

JohnC.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120915413#Comment_120915413

It's this post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120869529#Comment_120869529

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120915717#Comment_120915717

Weird

Can not click on that link for some reason. No idea why?

ELM327

Sorry if this comes out as massive!

We're just back from our first long ish drive in the ora. Quite odd and it feels like an alpha release not even beta. And thats coming from a tesla family! Motorway range is 200-220 max with the heater on full too, so not as great as some folks say. In similar roads and conditions my 3 RWD gets 300km for comparison. Nice car nonetheless, wouldnt have been my choice personally but hey it's not for me to drive. I'll be driving the leaf locally and the tesla on longer runs.

It doesnt even have apple carplay or irish navigation yet btw, they are coming soon OTA.

Also, had all 3 cars charging last night, the ORA at 7kW, the model 3 at 3kW and the leaf on the granny cable. For those that say you can't charge more than 1 EV!

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919880#Comment_120919880

Very nice. Is the ORA bigger than the Tesla? It looks it. Nice colour by the way on the ORA.

ELM327

No it's higher off the ground in the photo, the roofline is higher than the tesla too as the 3 is quite low. Yes, I liked the color too even though it wasnt my choice! I think its the best ORA color by far, some of the others look quite flat especially without the two tone roof.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919934#Comment_120919934

Awe OK. Maybe it's just the photo but it makes the ORA look bigger not just higher but wider than the Tesla too.

aidanodr

So here is the SMALL Great Wall Motor Company's Ora Funky Cat EV

https://ora-ev.ie/our-models

Price here in Ireland AFTER GRANTS from €29,995 - €37,995

HOWEVER in China the basic model sells for pretty much the equivalent to €14,000 ( RMB 107,800 )

As per - https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a44839117/great-wall-motors-ora-funky-cat-drive/

So a simple question - WHY is there such a MASSIVE price difference here? And why do we accept it?

Another point - Its a small car ( think Fiesta I imagine ) and they are trying to sell it for €30k?

My personal opinion re EV car prices in general - we are being royally gouged

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309474#Comment_121309474

Have you recently seen the price of a Fiesta?

The cheapest automatic Fiesta I found was starting at 27.3k for a 1l 123HP petrol (mHEV). No options included and before delivery and registration charges.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309474#Comment_121309474

Eh transport costs have to be paid for aa well as the lorry drivers, ship workers and handlers etc and our taxes on top of that as well as dealers taking there share. Its marketed as a posh EV anyway. A mistake maybe but that's what they decided to go for. Besides we are supposed to be a better off country than China so we shoukd be able to afford it and China has a bigger population so just like in the UK a bigger population means things can be sold cheaper.

aidanodr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309500#Comment_121309500

Further gouging? :D .. assuming its a 2nd hand fiesta as no longer made?

And 2nd Hand car market has gone nuts also, prices raised to meet the high price ev's perhaps?

aidanodr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309512#Comment_121309512

@AMKC For price of one funky cat here in Ireland €29,995 you could buy TWO in China €14000. Something not right there at all?

I understand all the transport, shipping costs etc BUT thats taking the pee

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309474#Comment_121309474

Price of goods is based on positioning in the market and what you think you can charge customers to sell the number of goods that you want too. Welcome to capitalism

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309518#Comment_121309518

Are we comparing a brand new EV with a second hand car? The point you made is that this Ora Funky Cat and most EV's are more expensive than ICE counterparts. I'm trying to point out that it is not really the case as ICEs have got very expensive as well.

Nissan appears to have discontinued Micra so Juke is their smallest ICE which is only 30.4k for the cheapest automatic while Leaf is 28.5k. And the list can go on.

ELM327

The Ora (as an owner of one of the only ones I've seen on the roads here!) is not the cheapest car from china, the MG4 is significantly cheaper. It's targeting a specific demographic. The same demographic that bought the New Beetle in the early 00's and the one that buys the New Mini since '04. It's competing on quirks and "cute" as opposed to pure price.

PS: Have you worked out the price on a 14k EUR car from china? Add in customs, vat, VRT, cost of EU homologation, shipping etc and you're at over double the price anyway.

JohnC.

Is ours actually the same car as in China or has there been changes made for EU standards, also pushing the price a bit?

MarkN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314716#Comment_121314716

Funky Cat is now cheaper than MG4. €29,995.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121318274#Comment_121318274

oh. that changed since we got ours.

I know for the ora the price reduction came along with a hike in interest rates meaning its much of a muchness unless buyig in cash

JohnC.

Sadly, the Funky Cat name is being killed off next year. Great Wall Motors are changing to a new naming scheme for both Ora and Wey.

Funky Cat will be GWM Ora 03. Lightning Cat will be GWM Ora 07.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ora-funky-cat-renamed-rebranding-great-wall-motor-range?callback=in&code=MZHLZTYWYJUTMTEYNY0ZZMRKLWEZMTUTMJU0MTRLMZAYZDUX&state=b8afd5e9ecf14820adf4e10bd0f97c21

Redfox25

Funky cat is better

ELM327

Yeah that's mad. Ours will be a funky cat forever and not interested in a GWM 07, whereas I would have been in a Lightning Cat.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121398496#Comment_121398496

I agree. Plan to buy a second hand one in the future if there are any.

AMKC

A nice review of the O3 formally Funky Cat here,

https://youtu.be/vqP-jzFYSOs?si=Q5FpsPds70Isfl5n

Firblog

Anyone have any experience of these? https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/gwm-ora-03-300-pro-242-offer/36098665

Seem to be great value for decent sized car/battery. No Ora dealers near me so no hope of getting to kick the tyres; appreciate any first hand review.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058358980/ora-3

I'm pretty sure @ELM327 has one.

That dealer is in Wexford and they have MG and Peugeot as well. I haven't dealt with them personally but I know someone who has bought three cars off them and have never had an issue with sorting a deal, warranty issues or service afterwards.

MarkN

not a bad price, their sales have been exceptionally low in Ireland, will they still be trading here in a year or two would be my concern…

Firblog

Are they they funky cats by another name?

ELM327

We have one, it's the mrs's car really, we use the Tesla for longer driving etc, our ora is a 232 and only has 10k km on it!

It's a nice car, very comfortable etc but there are a heck of a lot more cons than pros on the list. A few of my main bugbears are:

-It doesnt use regen when the "autopilot" is on. Big issue. Massive efficiency loss on motorways
-In car operating system is buggy, slow and often unresponsive, resulting in me having to use the voice commands, leading to:
- I hate voice commands at the best of times, but this car is pretty bad compared to the tesla on picking up my relatively flat accent.
-Scheduled charging does not, and has never worked, since we had the car
-Range is bad for the battery size. It's about the same as my old Ioniq28 +/-10%, pathetic in a smaller car with a bigger battery.
-DC charging is slooooooooooooooo…ooooooooooo…ooooooowwwwww

It's grand as a second car or for someone who doesnt drive long distances. If you do less than 150km in a day, this is fine range wise. I didnt want it initially as it was overpriced (and still is compared to other cars in its class), and nothing has made me change my mind since. I don't drive it. I drive the Tesla on long trips, my Leaf24 on short trips, my w210 V6 for fun, and my diesel XC90 if I need to tow anything or transport a load (more than 5 people or luggage/cargo etc).

TLDR: Don't. Get a nearly new tesla from inventory. Or a VW/MEB car, these are going cheap too. Or an MG5, my dad has one and they are a great drive with much better range for similar money.
EDIT: Actually from that dealer you linked (which is actually just down the road from me and didnt exist when we got our Ora in Dublin), this MG is a vastly better option

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mg-mg4-lr-exclusive-435kms-range/37308142?campaign=6

but my person preference from the MG range (again at that same dealer) is this mg5
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mg-5-lr-exclusive-ex-demo-sale/35475159?campaign=6

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122360793#Comment_122360793

GWM ran into issues trying to trademark Cat as a range name because Caterpillar already have it, and sell merch etc as well as diggers and heavy plant. So they changed to an awful bland Ora 3.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122360774#Comment_122360774

They have done relatively better in the UK where they have competitive lease deals and are (i believe) on the mobility and salary sacrifice schemes. We don't have them really over here. I think I've only ever seen two Oras in the wild outside the dealers.

As I say in my post above, awful cars and I wish we didnt get ours! (But a happy mrs and crappy car for her is a price worth paying 😁)

MarkN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361844#Comment_122361844

I believe a lot of the stock that was here has been relocated to the UK.

ilvar

@ELM327 if you don't have CarPlay, Android Auto and Satnav on a 2023 car, you can update softaware via a dealer (bc OTA of course doesn't work). I did with Citroen dealer in Swords

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122408162#Comment_122408162

We got it done last september. The onboard systems are awful so carplay is a must!