2023 GWM Ora | Australia's Cheapest EV Touches Down | Drive.com.au

This is the gwm aura, a super cool compact, electric car from Chinese giant Great Wall Motors its coming to Australia very soon, and it kind of looks to my mind, a little bit like a Volkswagen Beetle, a little bit like a Mini Cooper and maybe some Fiat 500 and a bit of Porsche thrown in there for good measure overseas. This things called the good cat or the funky cat, but because Australia is boring, we just get to call it the aura. So that feels like a little bit of a wasted opportunity, but otherwise its a really exciting, somewhat affordable electric car coming to Australia, so lets check it out. Now we dont have the all important final pricing just yet, but Im pretty sure that will be confirmed by the time this video goes live so well flash it up on the screen for you, but I can tell you there are going to be three variants available And theyre likely to be priced from just under fifty thousand dollars drive away after we film this video gwm confirmed, the aura would become the cheapest electric car in Australia, but this will vary depending on where you live. Pricing kicks off from 44 490 drive away for the aura standard range in the Northern Territory that rises up to 47 891 drive away for the same car in Western Australia. Please note: these Drive Away. Prices vary from state to state due to the different registration and stamp Duty fees in each jurisdiction.

The standard variant will have a 48 kilowatt hour battery and offer around 310 kilometers of range, while a larger 63 kilowatt hour battery will feature on the aura long range and the aura GT offering up to 420 kilometers of range. This can only be charged at a peak charging rate of 80 kilowatts which isnt a heat, but it should get your battery from 10 to 80 capacity in around 41 minutes size wise, the gwm sits somewhere between a sort of Toyota Yaris and a Toyota Corolla, with A very similar footprint to the Volkswagen Golf, so that should give you an idea of size, but obviously it kind of looks like nothing else. There is on the roads at the moment or maybe a mash up of everything there is on the road. So to start, youve got this very mysterious logo, which will have people asking what is he or she driving and then youve got this kind of beetle esque headlights here, which play a very cool animation when you unlock the car Ill, give you a demo now very Nifty and then youve also got these kind of interesting lines on the Bonnet as well, that give it a bit of a sporty feel, and if you move around to the back as well, theres, even more fun lighting to just make you stand up more from the Crowd in case you werent already now Ive moved around to the back here, and one of the coolest or most unusual things for me about this car is the location of the brake lights.

Actually, this long strip up here, which is really interesting so kind of not where youd expect it to be. On top of that, when you unlock the car, this does a cool little animation, so Ill. Give you a demo now hows that and as well Ive noticed down here theres remnants of its called cat past life, and I do miss the good cat Vibes. I think I might just keep calling it The good cat for good measure and back here youve got a 228 liter boot. So that is not big Ill, be honest with you, but thats kind of what youd expect looking at from the outside right. So youve probably got enough for a small Supermarket shop. There is a charging cable in here and a really teeny amount of underfloor storage as well, and, of course, those second row seats do fold down to boost that even further. So the Retro styling on the exterior of the car is carried through really nicely into the interior, so I do feel like Im in a car for maybe the 50s or 60s, this bold turquoise color. Can we call it turquoise? I dont know you can. Let me know in the comments is paired nicely with the sort of paler cream leather as well its actually faux leather, these things, but it feels pretty good and its its fooling me and then on this Dash here, youve got a kind of suede finish as well.

I dont particularly love the feel of it, but it looks good to the eye so thats whats important it as well. Youve got a fair amount of tech in here, so youve got your dual screen set up as well. This is a Thai spec car, so theres. Some instructions on here in time. I wont pretend that I can retie and put you through that. But you have got a wireless charger here. Youve got a fair amount of storage for a compact car, so Ive got some well sized door bins down here. A couple of cup holders down here: more storage there, two USB ports, 12 volt outlet and youve – got some kind of interesting switches here as well. They kind of feel like theyre borrowed from a mini or something like that. So all in all its a pretty comfortable setup and Ive got to say it feels pretty spacious for the fact that this is a small car. Adding to the open feel in this cabin is this great little sunroof here, so you can put it back open it up really nicely, and I will say as well its really well tinted, because theres, a fair bit of glare today coming weve got clouds in the Sky, but its still fairly bright and thats heavily tinted. I barely even noticed there was a sunroof when I first got in because it cuts out so much of that light, so well done to gwm for 4 that off and otherwise yeah its a really nice spacious.

Well, appointed and quite unique cabin now, Im, not as tall as some of my male colleagues, but I am pretty tall for a girl, or so I like to think Im about 178 centimeters theyve done a pretty good job of Headroom in this car theres. Some little kind of cuttings here as well so dense in the roof that give you a bit of extra space and really maximize whats available and even then with the Cairo, my regular driving position, or even a little bit further back than I normally drive it. Ive got heaps of knee room, a fair amount of toe room as well, and plenty of Wiggle rooms. So the floor is actually quite nice and flat as well. You dont have many kind of things impeding your foot room, even if you are in the middle seat. So thats handy, the only thing I will say is no air vents back here. So it is a small car. You have to rely solely on the airflow from the front to get you through on hot summer days and then down here. Youve just got one USB port that you guys can all fight over in the back seat, matte pockets on the backs of the seats, small door bins and some sort of nice cushioned supportive seats. We with isofix points for child seats on both of the outboard seats. Here so its pretty accommodating for most people, I think taller occupants might find their head is grazing the roof, but theyve done a good job of getting the most out of a compact footprint.

I got the chance to take a very brief five minute drive in the aura for two laps of a closed course, and here are some of my early thoughts for a more in depth. Real world analysis of how it drives stay tuned for our full review. So were getting going in the gwm aura, which is the electric compact car. Its very exciting Ive been looking forward to driving this one for quite some time. So this has single pedal mode which weve switched on through the menu here and if I just ease off the accelerator a little bit here, oh its quite a subtle, slow down its not as dramatic as you would get in other electric cars. So this car it feels really light and Nimble, because it is of course, a small car which is exciting. There are not many small electric cars available at the moment, Im, just mainly just the Nissan Leaf, so its kind of very quick Off the Mark, as you would expect from an electric car, but it also feels quite light going around corners and Ive actually got really Great all round visibility, so Ive got a few headrests in my liner Vision out the back, but the rear windshield is quite wide and nicely sized Ive got really nice big side mirrors as well, and its kind of just easy to get a good view of the Road and everything thats around you as well steering feel is quite light, which is what you want.

I think for a compact car thats mainly focused around City driving, but you know its nice and quick. Its got a fair amount of guts. It certainly never feels underpowered. Im going pretty fast around some hills and bends, and that kind of thing, and it feels really nicely powered for tackling that its also riding pretty well so its a little bit bumpy. You can feel the bumps in the cabin any of that harder age is taken out were about to head on to some gravel roads shortly, so Ill see how it handles those, but for the most part, its a very comfortable car and also these seats are really Comfortable theyre, really squishy and and quite supportive theres, not a heap of lumbar support, but theyre uh yeah really nicely positioned as well, so I feel quite upright, which suits the vibe of the car. I think so something I really love about this car is that when you slow down and youre indicating it actually pops up a curb View, Camera automatically. So it does show you, if youre parking, maneuvering in sort of narrow side streets, whether youre likely to curb the wheels, which I think is something a lot of us – could use on a daily basis. Certainly, I can Im not too proud to admit it. So thats a really handy feature as well. The indicator is kind of that soft tough time soft touch feel as well. So you kind of cant feel that tactile click over which I know some people really like, but you do get that nice satisfying clip clop noise, which I think everyone appreciates Ill.

Do it quickly for you now there we go yeah a bit old school, and this does feel a little bit like youre in a kind of retro car like a Volkswagen Beetle or even a Mini Cooper, or something like that lots of fun. And with that in mind, you know the handling, because it is a smaller footprint. It does feel quite agile, going around the corners, its probably not at the same, go kart level as a mini, but its pretty fun actually to drive were heading onto gravel roads. In a minute so well see how it goes with that its probably not its natural habitat, but it might surprise me so. The gear shifter in this car is actually a dial down here. So its pretty hard to miss that one and then youve got to manage your steering wheel, your cruise control via a stalk on the steering wheel, which is actually a little bit hard to see behind the steering wheel itself. So, Im not going to use it at the moment, but I can imagine its a little bit fiddly, but once you get the hang of it, youll be good to go so um and, as I said before, its nice and handy to have a good digital Speedo. Theres no head up display in this car – and this is the spec that well be getting in Australia, its also the spec they got in the the United Kingdom as well.

So this is pretty much ready to sell. So I just got a notification saying the emergency steering has been activated and we think thats, possibly because it picked up a guard rail on the side of the road here so were doing some fairly winding roads with a few obstacles either side and its probably thought That I was ready to drive it off a cliff which Im definitely not and its going to intervene, which is always good to test that kind of thing out, not actually not following through, but its good to know that its there, if you ever need it. I still dont know what smart Dodge Mode is: hasnt really done anything, possibly Dodge in car mode. That would be fun but um. Maybe it Dodges something for you if its something runs out into the road like a kangaroo which is highly likely given where we are at the moment, so well have to see if that kicks in at any point, but its got a fairly comprehensive list of safety Equipment and technology, so um, obviously yet to be rated by ancap, because its very new, but its got a nice long list of active safety features that just told me again in the emergency steering has been activated so clearly it doesnt trust. My driving all right were heading onto the gravel road now very exciting. I really like the one pedal function in this car. Actually, a single pedal drive because it isnt too dramatic in decelerating and it doesnt make me feel like I have a whiplash a whiplash.

I feel like Id, be very open to using this on a regular basis and some electric cars Ive driven its too nausea, inducing to you. So one pedal drive mode, and so you end up just switching it off. But this is a really even Handover between braking and accelerating, which is nice. Okay. It rode quite well on that Gravel Road Ive got to say so um its, certainly not your full blown SUV. You can still get a sense of the terrain beneath the car, but thats probably a good thing. You want to know what youre driving on and its really comfortable. So, as I said before, you kind of feel the bumps, but you dont have any of the edge it cuts that out really nicely something. I love in this car is nice tactile switches for your climate control. I always miss that in electric cars that go a little bit too screen heavy, and this actually feels like its borrowing, some of its switch gear from the mini models. So its got those kind of retro, almost fighter pilot tabs down here Ill. Give you a closer look when were stopped, but thats really great, because when youre on the go, that is exactly what you want. You want something thats tactile and easy to use without having to take your eyes off the road. I also love the positioning of the air vents, so youve got one thats sort of slightly higher on the right here and its hitting me right just where my arm is on the steering wheel and then youve got one thats a little bit lower.

So its not blowing air into my face, but its cooling me down very effectively Ive driven a few cars recently that have very bizarre placement of air vents. So Im really appreciating the very practical placement of the air vents in this car. One last thing to add in this car is Im really noticing some wind noise around the mirror. So I actually thought it was the fan for the climate control, but having turned the climate control off, you do get a fair bit of wind noise, especially in this area next to the drivers so thats, something to note and its obviously exacerbated by the lack of Engine noise too, so possibly you wouldnt notice it as much in a car with engine noise, but unfortunately, this car is very silent. So you really notice every little sound Australian orders for the gwm aura open on the 9th of February 2023 and gwm expects first deliveries to commence in April. The gwm aura is backed by a seven year, unlimited kilometer warranty, while the battery receives coverage for eight years. Thanks for watching, if you want more information about this Nifty little city car with electric power coming soon to a Road near you that obviously had to drive.