GREAT Wall Motor (GWM) wasn’t going to be left behind in providing an exciting drive with its EV (electric vehicle) range by introducing the Ora 07.
The automotive industry in China is virtually going at breakneck speed to develop EVs that have amazing features and sporty variants that looked as fast as they would go.
That is most definitely the case with the Ora 07 when we first saw it at the international media drive event held near GWM’s headquarters in Baoding, China in late April.
The four-door coupe-like body styling drew immediate attention to the Ora sports car driven purely by electric power.
And at GWM’s extensive booth at the Auto China 2024, the Ora 07 certainly drew its share of oohs and aahs from visitors.
If one were to draw a parallel for the Ora 07 in car body design with that for the Porsche range, this is due to GWM employing Emanual Delta, who used to work in the German automotive maker’s design department.
Now, two months later, we are re-acquainted with the Ora 07 but the Performance variant that boasts a higher top end and quicker 0-100kph acceleration; 180kph against 170kph and 4.3 seconds against 7.9 seconds.
This is because the Ora 07 Performance comes with dual electric motors over the Long Range Ultra model which has a single electric motor.
As a result, the Ora 07 Performance is an all-wheel drive while the Long Range Ultra model is a front-wheel drive.
The output is listed at 300kW (408PS) and 680Nm for the Performance, which is double that of the base variant at 150kW (204PS) and 340Nm.
To allow for the quick standing start acceleration, the Performance model comes with Launch Control that we tried out during the acceleration runs at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
To do that, we had to use our left leg to step on the brake pedal and floor the accelerator pedal with the right leg.
There was no engine revving till the high heavens but there was a message on the instrument panel informing us that the Launch Control was activated and we were good to go.
With a device fitted to clock our acceleration performance in the car, we attempted three runs but failed to match the manufacturer’s claims.
The first exploratory run was covered in 4.5 seconds while the subsequent two turned in consistent times of 4.4 seconds.
All the same, we felt the explosive take-off as the G-force pushed us to our seat as the enormous torque was discharged to spirit us away.
These runs were done with the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) turned off but activated for the other two events – slalom, and brake and steer.
The first was a slalom course done at a recommended 60kph that we felt was too slow and stepped up the speed in a subsequent run.
You need quicker reflexes in steering the car through the slalom course at a higher speed and we certainly lacked that, leading us to knock over a few cones.
The brake and steer routine was done at 80kph before hitting the brake pedal and steer, which the Ora 07 showed it was easily capable of.
The fun part was the Time Attack event for which the three fastest times with the Ora 07 Performance around the 5km-plus circuit earned prizes from GWM.
The Ora 07 Performance is equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres of the size 235/45 R19 (the Long Range Ultra comes fitted with 235/50 R18 Hankook Ventus tyres).
The former also comes with red brake callipers to add a touch of visual aggro against the base version’s silver.
The Ora 07 has front MacPherson struts while the rear comes with a multi-link design.
Tyre pressures for the day’s events were set to 35psi or 245kPa but the hot day and hot track surface temperature didn’t help matters.
The first batch of drivers came back with overheated brakes that led to less than effective braking and instead of two hot runs, we were asked to do only one hot run.
Having driven the Audi e-tron late last year, albeit only on the south track of the SIC, we had a pretty good idea of what to expect with the all-wheel drive Ora 07 Performance.
However, on our GWM guide’s behest on where and how hard to hit the brake pedal, which disrupted our rhythm and focus, we gave up on getting the best possible time.
We noted the heavy understeer when going too fast into a corner that is typical of an all-wheel drive but unlike the Audi, we stayed on the tarmac for that one hot run, thanks to our guide.
With the low centre of gravity due to the heavy battery being located beneath the floorboard, car body lean was hardly noticed.
We would love to have a go at the front-wheel drive Ora 07 Ultra, which was not made available for the SIC experience, but without a guide.
In range, the Ora 07 Performance could cover 550km on a full charge while the Long Range Ultra, like its name suggests, goes further to 640km.
The Ora 07 comes with a full suite of active and passive safety systems that includes some interesting ones like Traffic Sign Recognition, Overspeed Alert and Secondary Collision Mitigation.
The recommended selling price for these imported Ora 07 EVs are RM170,500 on the road without insurance for the Long Range Ultra and RM190,500 for the Performance variant.
The warranty for the power battery, electric motor and electric motor control unit is eight years or 180,000km, while the full vehicle warranty is six years/150,000km.
There is also a 12-year body warranty on rust and corrosion as well as a one-to-one battery pack replacement offer.
