GWM Ora electric car 2023 review: The MG4 EV's new rival – but is Great Wall's Funky Cat a Good Cat?

Luckily, by the time it gets to Australian showrooms any day now it will be called the gwm aura, and why is that lucky? Because it would be a shame for such a significant car as this to be hamstrung in a marketing sense by a stupid Lost in Translation badge. And why is it a significant car? Because this is the car the gwm are going to use to take on EV versions of the mg byd and plenty more to come because trust us this EV City Car end of the market could really be about to Blossom. Especially when you hear the price on this one, there are two Aura models, starting with the base model, small battery version that costs 43 990 with Drive Away pricing to be announced any day. Now. The next step up is to the long range version with the bigger 63 kilowatt battery and a price tag of 47 990. theres. Also, a model called the GT which costs 53 990 and gets the same battery as the long range version, but has a fraction more power and therefore loses a little range. The base model gets dual info screens 18 inch, alloy wheels, Apple and Android connectivity, leatherette seat trim a 360 degree, camera active cruise control and intelligent start, which means no need for a starter button. The GT adds gear, such as a panoramic sunroof power drivers, seat with a memory automatic parking and that little extra dollop of performance.

If those prices sound a bit steep bear in mind. This is EV Tech were talking about, and the competition has every right to be worried. Music design is that its actually quite large inside thats, largely down to the long wheelbase, but it remains a spacious cabin. Our only complaint would be the lack of a reach adjustable. Steering column and the fact that some of the Interior fittings look a bit derivative, the exterior styling isnt, exactly butch, but its different enough to make a statement too. Interestingly, the auras platform has been designed to cater to other models of different sizes, so get used to it. I reckon one of the big selling points of this car will be the crazy funky interior, its its kind of really cool and quite playful. The some of the switches are a bit derivative. I will say the ones down here. The toggles look like they could be fair enough. They look a little bit like theyre out of an early mini, an early, BMW Mini, but the rest of it is kind of two tone and theres a theres. A huge screen in front of me. The steering wheel is a two spoke thing, with a with a groovy looking design, its just a bit of fun, but the other thing that surprises me is how much leg room is in the back um two six foot guys can sit front and back in this Thing and have enough leg room, which is pretty amazing: the luggage space isnt huge in the hatch but its about 228 liters.

I think, but the seat does split fold. 60. 40., so its got full hatchback versatility, but it seems to have a fair bit of wheelbase. So the interior space is actually really quite good and theres plenty of Headroom too. The only thing Im really not too mad about is the fact that the steering column is adjustable for height, only not reach, and I find and Ive got pretty long arms and I feel like Im still sitting too far away from it. So that might be for small people. That might be a bit of a sticking point, but visibility is good. You can, you can see out of the thing: okay, theres, no real blind spot issue and the quality of the Interior is a bit of a surprise too. If you thought it was going to be all hard plastics like some of the early Havel product, uh, think again, its all soft touch, mostly the only real hard plastics of the center console and the lower part of the door. The rest of it in the two tone, color is, is quite soft touch its its actually really nice. So this is the version of the aura that well get in Australia, its the single motor version, not the dual motor makes 126 kilowatts of power and plenty of torque, as you would imagine, the range is about, I think, 320 kilometers or thereabouts. It wont be that much on the highway, but it should be near to that around town and thats thats, where this car is going to excel thats it, although theres a little bit of pitching in the ride it is, it is quite comfortable, so you know it Would be a viable provided you can go from charge point to charge point a viable Interstate Car, its one of those little cars thats got a bit of a big car feel and in fact its not actually that small, its going to give things like mg, EVs And byds a big run for their money, especially at the price.

There are individual Drive modes that you can select. Fundamentally, though, I think people are just going to leave this car in normal and and make the most of it because its pretty easy to live with the gear selections via a rotary dial in the center console. You can use it as a one pedal car. If you jack up the Regeneration Music 48 kilowatt hour battery, the aura claims to cover 320 kilometers on a charge that improves to 420 kilometers in the same car with the optional larger battery and the GT with its extra power loses 20 kilometers of that range. For a total of 400 kilometers, the aura will accept up to 11 kilowatts of charge from an AC source and up to 80 kilowatts from a DC fast charger. At the latter rate, the aura should go from 10 charge to 80 percent in 41 minutes and fast charging is via a CCS type, 2 plug Music Temptations of our time. With this car I mean we cant, really drive it in an urban area or in familiar surroundings, so were stuck with this Proving Ground thats, no real bad thing, though, because its got some terrific little roads on it, and this is one of them its a fairly Tight windy, bitumen Road and although I can feel a little bit of firmness in the suspension and it wants to it, wants to bounce ever so gently is actually quite accurate to steer the steering weight seems about right, although its not overly fast.

In this Theory it does turn in and it will hang on to a certain extent. So you know its not a toy. This isnt um this isnt, one of those cars that you buy just because its cheap, it does actually drive pretty well and the performance is good. I mean 126 kilowatts and a fair bit of torque and its delivered like that, like any EV and uh yeah its, it can be its actually pretty good fun. I imagine itll be pretty good fun between you know: green lights, yes, office, Music. The aura has been Euro end cap tested and achieved five stars for safety. That score extends to the whole Aura range too, as the only differences are in battery size and standard equipment, with safety gear being standard across all models that includes aeb, active cruise control, forward Collision warning Lane, departure warning Lane, keep assistance and rear cross traffic alert not To mention the 360 degree camera for the full details check out the written review of the aura on the cars Guide website, Music gwms seven year, unlimited kilometer warranty applies to the aura, putting it up there with the very best of them service intervals. Hadnt been announced when we drove the car, but there is five years of roadside assistance as part of the deal and cap price servicing will be available at a price to be announced soon, Music. I can see people jumping into this and itll be, it might be their first experience of an electric car and theyll go.

You know what. How long has this been going on? This is actually okay. I could live with this and you know at the price wow you know I mean its going to be comfortably under 50. drive away, probably high 40s, and and at that money you can absolutely see a lot of people going well.