The truth is that most of us recognise that electric vehicles have an important role to play in our automotive future. But right now there is one uncomfortable fact that we must accept. That is, of course, that they are not cheap. Finding a pure-electric vehicle for less than $50,000 is difficult (and only a couple technically qualify). Meanwhile, you can just about throw a rock in any direction and hit an EV with a price point north of $100,000. Add to this that to date, traditional entry-level manufacturers have not risen to the task of reducing the cost of EV’s; and that puts Australia’s EV usage and purchasing behaviour far behind that of the rest of the world. Well, all that is about to change with one cool Cat that is about to enter the Australian market and give its competitors a run for their money.
Enter the ORA Cat. Slated to touch down in Australia in 2023 the ORA brand of electric vehicles will come to our shores as part of the extended GWM family of vehicles. With its sleek design, impressive feature set and luxury stylings its clear from the outset, that the ORA Cat has the likes of the Tesla Model 3 squarely in its sights. But with the ORA being expected to be priced somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 at launch, its clear that GWM is keen on putting its rivals like Hyundai and Kia on notice when it comes to EV pricing. With even an entry level Kia EV starting from an early seventy-thousand-dollar price point on road, its glaringly obvious that GWM intends to come out of the gates swinging when the ORA range drops next year.
While details are still emerging about which versions of the ORA Cat will arrive here and which configurations will be available; the recent release of the ORA Next Cat in Europe this month certainly has people talking about whether this is what the Australian release will look like for ORA. With an all-wheel-drive drivetrain being propelled by an 89kWh 300kw electric motor setup; and claiming 430km of range with a 0-80% charge time in only 55 minutes. If the Ora Next Cat is indeed one of the versions that ends up gracing our roads, it would immediately surpass the current competitors in the local market for both range and charge time at that price point.
Also on the cards is the ORA Good Cat which is the Next Cat’s smaller brother, and which was recently spied on Australian roads as part of local testing being carried out by GWM Australia. The Good Cat is sized and specced to compete with the yet-to-be-released Volkswagen ID.3 which is not expected to arrive in Australia until 2024. The Good Cat currently exists in other markets with a 48kWh electric motor boasting 310km of range with a similar ‘up to 80%’ charge time of as its bigger brother. Regardless of which models of the ORA Cat make up the final range released to Australia, one thing is certain, the ORA Cat will be landing here on all fours ready to change the landscape of Australian EV market.
