For a battery electric vehicle (BEV) priced at RM170,500, the Ora Good Cat 500 Ultra gets trendy styling and plenty of smart features with range practicality.
THE all-electric Ora Good Cat is an impressive and very likeable set of wheels, and after spending nearly 370km and three nights with the five-door five-seater hatchback, we came away feeling bewitched by its premium interior and motoring technologies.
For those not familiar with the brand, Ora (stands for Open, Reliable and Alternative) is an electric car marque from Great Wall Motor, known as the largest sports utility vehicle (SUV ) and pick-up truck manufacturer in China.
The Good Cat (called Haomao in Chinese) is offered here in two variants of 400 Pro (priced at RM140,500; travel range 400km) and 500 Ultra (priced at RM170,500; travel range 500km).
To sweeten the deal, it also comes with a portable charger, home charger and five maintenance service slots (at 10,000km intervals) free of charge.
Our test drive unit came in a two-tone colour scheme of Hazel Wood Beige with Brown Roof which is exclusive to the pricier 500 Ultra variant.
It’s certainly a funky-looking colour scheme, and the retro exterior styling, thanks to former Porsche designer Emanuel Derta, is another head-turner.
Step inside, and it’s hard not to like how stylish and classy the interior looks, with the leather seats, polished metal and smooth plastic surfaces, and lots of soft-touch materials.
To switch on or off the air-conditioning, there are MINI-styled metal toggles. A rotary gear shift dial is on the centre console, for Reverse, Neutral and Drive modes.
There are switches for the electric parking brake and automatic hold function.
Most functions are accessed via the 10.25-inch touchscreen, and these include temperature control, air-conditioning blower, vehicle settings, multimedia options and connectivity.
As a result, the dashboard has a very pleasing minimalist and uncluttered layout.
The synthetic leather seats provided nice comfort, and we made good use of the massage function (only on 500 Ultra) on the driver’s seat.
The electric massage function is billed as best-in-class, and we certainly enjoyed the strong back rub it delivered.
Regarding its size, the Good Cat has quite a sizeable footprint. For some perspective, it is 161mm taller and 45mm wider than the C-segment Toyota Corolla, yet 190mm shorter than the latest B-segment Toyota Vios.
Meanwhile, the Good Cat’s wheelbase is 30mm longer than that of the Vios. While the cabin feels roomy, and offers ample elbow and leg room, rear headroom is limited for 1.7-metre people like us, as our heads nearly touched the ceiling.
With the rear seats up, boot space is only 228 litres. This can be expanded to a huge 858 litres by folding the rear seats flat.
There’s no push-start button here, so you only need to step on the brake pedal and the car is ready to move.
There’s a button to switch between driving modes - Sport, Auto, Eco and Normal. There’s also a switch to power down the car but the steering wheel is only tilt adjustable.
To recharge the 63.14kWh ternary lithium battery, we only used the Type 2 cable and a 3-point electrical socket at home.
On the second day with the Good Cat, after charging overnight for over 11 hours, the battery level jumped from 41% to 85%, with an estimated remaining range of 431km.
We drove 167km that day, and the battery level dropped from 85% to 41% again, with the estimated remaining range at 212km.
You can choose the level of energy recovery or regenerative braking (Weak, Standard, Strong) via the touchscreen or as we ended up preferring most of the time, the single-pedal drive mode.
Selecting Weak resulted in almost no brake retardation, and stepping on the accelerator pedal feels effortless.
Select the single-pedal drive mode, however, and you get the strongest regenerative braking level, and a harder stomp on the accelerator pedal is needed to get moving.
Still, using the single-pedal drive mode grew quickly on us, as once we eased off the accelerator pedal, the speed of the car quickly retarded, and the car can come to a smooth, complete stop without us stepping on the brake pedal.
This is a very convenient feature especially on congested roads, as we hardly had to use the brake pedal.
As with battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the Good Cat enjoys instant torque delivery and its 210Nm to the front wheels results in very quick acceleration, despite the 1.5-tonne kerb weight.
Its top speed is electronically limited to 152kph, and while the Good Cat has decent driving dynamics when powering through road bends, it’s certainly not designed for spirited drivers.
Handling-wise, we think it was not very inspiring when tackling corners at high speeds.
Running on GitiComfort 225 V1 tyres sized 215/50 R18, the ride quality feels to be on the firm side, but road irregularities are well absorbed, and it’s never uncomfortable or excessively bouncy.
Without exhaust roar and engine noise, tyre, wind and road noise is usually somewhat distinct in a BEV, and the Good Cat is no exception.
Still, the built quality is solid, and the Good Cat excels at delivering refined and comfortable motoring.
The six-speaker audio (only on 500 Ultra) delivers crisp and enjoyable music quality.
Another highlight is the barnful of advanced driving assistance and safety features packed on the Good Cat, which meant there were times when we only needed to keep our hands on the steering wheel and trust the car to automatically accelerate, brake and stay in the centre of marked road lanes.
The infotainment supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and we had no issues connecting to our Samsung phone.
There was only one niggle with the user interface (UI) which puzzled us. Sometimes, when we wanted to switch from single-pedal drive mode, the energy recovery level (Weak, Standard, Strong) options would be missing.
This meant we became temporarily stuck in the single-pedal drive mode.
The energy recovery level options would reappear sometime later, and Great Wall Motor has told us they would look into the glitch.
In summary, we were quite blown away by the Good Cat’s driving refinement, safety and advanced driving assist technologies, plush cabin and interior comforts, stylish and trendy design, and value-for-money package.
The Good Cat simply underlines Ford CEO Jim Farley’s recently spoken view that Chinese car companies are going to be the powerhouse in the EV market, with high-quality and more accessibly-priced EVs.
Ora Good Cat (500 Ultra)
Motor: Permanent magnet synchronous
Maximum power: 143PS (105Kw)
Maximum torque: 210Nm
Battery: 63.14kWh ternary lithium
Range: Up to 500km (based on NEDC)
Standard charge, AC 3-pin: 10 hours
DC fast charge (0 to 80%): 1 hour
DC fast charge (30% to 80%): 40 minutes
Features: LED headlamp with automatic on-off and high-low beam, automatic sensing wipers, panoramic sunroof, all-round disc brakes, 18-inch wheels, tyre repair kit, electronic parking brake with auto hold, synthetic leather seats, 6-ways powered driver’s seat with massage and memory functions, 4 USB-A ports, wireless charger, 4 windows automatic up/down with one-touch, automatic air-conditioning with PM 2.5 filter, 6 audio speakers, Apple Carplay/Androd Auto wired connectivity, 10.25-inch touch screen display, 7-inch multi information display, single pedal driving control, 360-degree surround camera system
Safety and advanced driving assist features: Automatic integrated parking, automatic reversing assistance, adaptive cruise control, intelligent turning, traffic jam assist, automatic emergency braking + intersection, Low Speed Emergency Braking, forward collision warning, Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Centering Assist (LCA), Wisdom Dodge System (WDS), Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK), Lane Change Assist (LCA), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), front and rear parking sensors, Rear Collision Warning (RCW), rear cross traffic alert, rear cross traffic braking, Cornering Brake Control, Hill Start Assist, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, traffic sign warning
Top speed: 152kph (electronically limited)
Boot capacity: 228 litres, expandable to 858 litres with rear seats down
Price: RM170,500 (with tax exemptions and free road tax, excluding insurance), and free portable charger and home charger
Warranty: 5-year or 150,000km (whichever is first), and 8-year or 180,000km warranty on the lithium battery
