ORA FUNKY CAT

After this Chinese newbie's road test this month comes the longer, everyday test

FIRST REPORT

WHY WE'RE RUNNING IT

Ora is one of a number of Chinese EV brands hoping to make it big in Europe. Does its first model land on its feet?

Yeesh. What's redder the car or my face? Y The Ora Funky Cat split opinion when it landed in the UK late last year. When embargoed UK first drives went live, it became abundantly clear that its cheery stance, funny name and competitive pricing couldn't quite compensate for a raft of shortcomings in the dynamic and functionality stakes in the eyes of many a motoring hack. Some reviews were pretty harsh. I, on the basis of a pretty agreeable test drive and objective consideration of rivals, liked it and gave it four stars.

When I got back to the office, the somewhat doubtful road test team made no secret of their scepticism but agreed, at my behest, to reserve judgement until they’d had a chance to get funky themselves which they now have done. And they, after a much more thorough, multi-day road test, did not like it and gave it two and a half stars.