GWM Ora Standard Range 2023 Review

The 2023 GWM Ora is a charismatic new EV priced from $39,990 plus on-road costs for the ‘Standard Range’ base-grade model we’re testing here.

It offers a claimed (WLTP-verified) 310km driving range from its 48kWh battery pack and was originally priced at $43,990 plus on-roads – until the announcement of two other affordable Chinese EVs arriving soon: the new MG4 (from $38,990 plus ORCs) and BYD Dolphin (from $38,890).

The last-minute price change by GWM Australia, hacking $4000 off the price just before Aussie deliveries commenced, was joined by other changes to the range, including the addition of a top-tier GWM Ora ‘Ultra’ model grade and a complimentary wallbox charger valued at $1690 until late September for all variants except the base-grade EV.

The imminent arrival of the MG4 and BYD Dolphin in the entry-level EV space signals a rapidly evolving EV marketplace which is good news for buyers and bad news for the GWM Ora, given its two rivals are a little more affordable (on headline price, at least) and offer slightly better range.

Nevertheless, we found the GWM Ora’s 300-odd kays to be enough for most situations and if you need greater endurance and have more cash to splash, the Ora Extended Range costs $45,990 plus ORCs and is identically equipped except for its larger 63kWh battery, providing 420km (WLTP).

The new GWM Ora Ultra is a new up-spec model that costs $48,990 plus ORCs and has the same 63kWh battery as the Extended Range version, only with more equipment including heated, cooled and massaging front seats.

A warmer version dubbed the GWM Ora GT is also on its way to Australia later in 2023 (from $51,990) and gets a sportier look and feel thanks to a tweaked e-motor, recalibrated suspension and a purposeful body kit.

The GT also gets more equipment – panoramic glass roof, powered hatchback, etc – and has a 400km (WLTP) range.

Government incentives like reduced or free car rego can take some of the sting out of these prices, which are around $10K higher than comparative combustion-engined cars. In NSW it is $3000 and Queensland offer a $6000 rebate on some EVs while other states like Victoria tax EVs 2.8c per kilometre driven, with NSW to follow suit in 2027 along with other states in future.

Clear as mud, right? (See our helpful guide to the various state and territory EV incentives available.)

All GWM Ora model grades are covered by a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, backed by an eight-year battery warranty.

Capped-price service intervals occur every 12 months or 15,000km and are competitively priced at $99 each, adding up to $495 for five years or 60,000km of driving.

Five years’ roadside assistance is also part of the aftersales package, adding extra peace of mind should you run out of electrons.

GWM Australia has done a slick job equipping the 2023 GWM Ora Standard Range, starting on the outside with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, auto-dipping high beams, LED tail-lights and circular daytime running lights that animate when you get close.

It’s only a matter of time before we begin to have deep and meaningful encounters as we approach our AI-enhanced cars.

Speaking of which, the GWM Ora makes use of a keyless entry and buttonless start system – you just open the door, plonk down in the seat and shift the vehicle into drive. It’s pretty cool, and going back to a push-button start seems retrogressive too. My poor family SUV has an inferiority complex now.

Anyway, a wireless phone charger, twin ultra-high-resolution 10.25-inch digital screens with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and power-operated ‘leatherette’ seats with a retro design up front add plenty of appeal to the cabin.

An excellent parking camera system (with 360-degree surround views), rear parking sensors and the Ora’s small size make it easy to park.

An upmarket leather-clad steering wheel festooned with buttons – which are a bit tricky to figure out at first – plus a six-speaker stereo, automatic climate control, 12-volt socket and twin USB-A ports, and over-the-air (OTA) updates for the infotainment and driver displays are part of the deal.

There’s only one option available: premium paint ($595), which accompanies four of the five exterior colour choices – Sun Black, Glacier Blue, Mars Red and Aurora Green. Hamilton White won’t add cost and all colours feature a contrasting roof.

The 2023 GWM Ora has received a maximum five-star rating from independent car safety authority ANCAP.

It’s fitted with seven airbags protecting front and rear passengers, including a front centre airbag designed to prevent head-clash between the driver and front passenger.

As well as protecting occupants in the event of a collision, the Ora will try to mitigate the chances of getting into risky situations altogether, thanks to the fitment of semi-autonomous driving functions.

The car can steer, brake and accelerate autonomously via adaptive cruise control, active lane keep assistance systems and autonomous emergency braking (AEB), the latter able to detect vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians in forward and reverse gears.

Most of the driver assist systems can be toggled through various settings, such as low, medium or highly sensitive, while a traffic jam assistant makes stop/start commuting a lot easier. Real-time speed limit updates via traffic sign recognition helps too.

Rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring and an infrared sensor that tracks the driver’s line of sight (and bleat out a warning if you don’t pay attention to where you’re going) is also part of the safety suite.

Twin digital screens are becoming the norm in new cars these days, but the dual 10.25-inch set-up in the 2023 GWM Ora – with both positioned behind a single pane of glass – looks great and is tastefully integrated into the dashboard.

It’s pretty sleek for a car at this price and takes up more digital screen real estate than both the BYD Dolphin and MG4. The operating system responds promptly to input, suggesting plenty of back-end processing power and the visual detail of the screens is excellent.

The central screen boots up with an oddly soothing and photo-realistic goldfish animation, while the native menu system is fairly intuitive and offers all the usual features along with detailed battery, energy and recharging pictographs.

Both screens offer a huge amount of customisation. Apple CarPlay worked flawlessly and the over-the-air updates should keep the digital ecosystem working smoothly.

It’s a shame there’s no head-up display or vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging functionality to plug in laptops or appliances (the latter found on the MG4, for example), but the Ora almost makes up for these missing features with one of the best reversing cameras we’ve ever used.

Not only does the camera deliver crisp, clear visuals through the touch-screen but also blends the reversing camera with the proximity sensors to display in centimetres precisely how close you are to an obstacle.

If you’re a panicky car parker, this feature alone will be worth the price of admission.

Despite its relatively modest e-motor that generates 126kW of power and 250Nm of torque, the 2023 GWM Ora Standard Range is an energetic little whipper-snapper.

Tipping the scales at 1540kg, GWM claims the Ora will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 8.4 seconds, which feels about right.

But the way it powers from 0-60km/h is seriously gratifying – the traffic light tango is always a lark.

Driving the front wheels via a single-speed reduction gearset, and drawing energy from a relatively small 48kWh lithium-ion LFP (lithium ferro-phosphate) battery pack, the electric motor reacts rapidly to throttle input, which gives the GWM Ora quite a tenacious personality.

It’s a very capable vehicle in and around the suburban and exurban sprawl, and although its 310km range means longer drives require more planning, it’s also a good highway cruiser – calm and quiet.

The official WLTP driving range for the 2023 GWM Ora Standard Range is 310km, although the best we could manage was 282km from a full charge to almost zero per cent battery – a practice we don’t recommend, as range anxiety certainly increases as the juice runs out.

On test, the Ora returned an energy consumption average of 17kWh/100km, which isn’t too bad given the official rating is 15.4kWh/100km.

If you drive sedately (which is challenging given its spritely persona) and don’t use the freeway or hit higher speeds too often, 300km would be achievable.

Used on a daily basis as a runabout – commuting 26km to work and back three days a week, driving four suburbs away to the dentist, doing the grocery shopping and other odd jobs – is where the Ora does its best work.

With the battery at 42 per cent, claiming 150km of range left, we used a 100kW DC fast-charger but because the car’s 400-volt architecture allows a maximum charging rate of 64kW it was only drawing 35kW at that stage. It took 31 minutes to get it to 80 per cent.

According to GWM, the battery will charge from 10-80 per cent in 5.5 hours via an 11kW AC wallbox. Charging the same amount using a public fast-charger, such as 80kW or above, takes 50 minutes.

Sporting a quirky design that could be mistaken for a MINI Cooper at 50 yards away – at least from the front – GWM’s new EV-only sub-brand Ora has called its first model the 2023 GWM Ora.

This can be a good strategy when launching an unknown brand to a largely conservative car buying public, but when it wears Ora Funky Cat and Ora Good Cat badges in overseas markets, the Aussie naming sounds a bit ho-hum. Doubly so when it’s got so much charisma.

Indeed, drop the hammer in Sport mode and the Ora darts forward like a scalded cat, the electric motor delivering loads of punchy thrust from standstill. So much so that when turning at a T-intersection with haste it spins the front inside wheel as if Vin Diesel was driving – even in the dry.

The traction control eventually kicks in, and although such traits mean you need to be more careful in the wet (the low-friction Giti tyres don’t help), this sometimes raw attitude gives the car a certain authenticity. Depending on your driving style, this could be viewed as a positive or a negative.

But throw the Ora through roundabouts and it laps up the challenge, the front MacPherson strut/rear torsion beam suspension maintaining decent body control and balance. It’s not MINI Cooper-like sportiness, but the Ora comes a lot closer than anticipated and is a fun and surprisingly composed hatchback to blast around in.

Issues we experienced in prototype vehicles earlier this year, such as excessive wind noise around the mirrors at higher speeds, have eased, although bigger bumps and deeper potholes still result in loud suspension thumps that enter the cabin.

Using the one-pedal driving mode is quite cool, with heavy regenerative braking bringing the car to a standstill without needing to the touch the brake. This is designed to charge the battery, but we never saw the range increase. Maybe on a mountain descent?

By and large, the Ora is a fun and, indeed, charming electric hatchback to drive but it’s not without a few annoying quirks, such as the indicators. They’re overly sensitive and sometimes trying to cancel them sees the opposite indicator flick on.

You mostly get used to their sensitivity but every now and then it bites.

The rotary transmission shifter looks awesome but is a bit woolly and imprecise, especially when you’re in a hurry trying to snap out a quick three-point turn, traffic bearing down on you. It simply doesn’t register inputs if you don’t give it time to breathe between shifting from drive to reverse.

GWM has done a good job creating an upmarket look and feel in the cabin of the 2023 GWM Ora, which makes driving it surprisingly appealing and relaxing.

Sure, there’s a few cheap plastics here and there if you look closely, but for the most part material quality is sound. Most of the cabin plastics are pretty smooth and the synthetic leather that covers the comfy power-operated seats, steering wheel, doors and dashboard is soft and supple.

Chuck in the climate control toggle switches (blatant MINI knock-offs but still cool) and Euro-inspired two-tone blue-on-white cabin finish, and the car cultivates a premium feel.

Small touches like auto up/down power windows in all four positions with anti-pinch functionality, plus heated and auto-folding electric wing mirrors and a monochromatic (anti-glare) interior mirror will be appreciated over time.

Rear seat room is surprisingly good in this Volkswagen Golf-sized electric hatch. Fully-grown humans up to around 6ft tall will be fairly comfortable in the back seats on longer journeys – although the lack of air vents isn’t ideal.

There’s one USB-A port and a fold-out central arm rest in the back so it’s not too crook.

The boot is tiny, though. Just 228 litres of cargo space is enough for a modest amount of groceries or a couple of medium-sized suitcases, but little else. Fold the back seats down and you get 858 litres, which is okay, but far from class-leading.

When we first sampled the 2023 GWM Ora on Australian soil earlier this year, it was a breath of fresh air – a relatively affordable EV with loads of personality and a luxurious glow.

But the EV game is now moving so fast that its price point feels a few thousand dollars too steep when the likes of MG and BYD are blasting into the market with headline-grabbing “Australia’s cheapest EV” models.

There’s value to be found in the GWM Ora, thanks to its substantial equipment levels, premium interior and solid safety suite.

And given that GWM Australia has already responded to the competition hotting up in the marketplace, dropping prices even before the Ora reaches showrooms, further movement in that direction would be welcome.

2023 GWM Ora Standard Range at a glance:
Price: $39,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 126kW/250Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 48kWh lithium-ion
Range: 310km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 15.4kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)