Ora. ‘Next cat’ for Israel
Get ready, Ora ‘cat family’ fans in Israel! In all likelihood, the Ora Next Cat will come to us after the Ora Funky Cat. An electric sports car concept was presented at the Paris Motor Show back in October 2022, and it immediately caught everyone’s attention: many immediately remembered the Porsche Panamera and called Next Cat its clone, predicting possible legal claims from Porsche for design theft. But be that as it may, the Ora brand and its parent company Great Wall have already announced their expansion into the European market. And Israel will become one of the first countries to be able to test the new electric car!
The official website of Ora-Israel posted an encouraging answer to the direct question "Will any new Ora models come to Israel?" The answer was: “Next year we will launch a large, almost 4.9 meters long, electric sedan Ora Next Cat with all-wheel drive, two electric motors with a total capacity of 403 hp and a driving range of 430 miles (692 km)".
The electric vehicle brand Ora, owned by Great Wall, has already gained a foothold in the domestic Chinese market (135,000 cars sold in 2021) and has begun to conquer external ones. At the beginning of autumn 2022, sales of the funny Ora Funky Cat hatchback began in England, then in Germany and France. And in early February 2023, a compact Chinese electric hatchback with a cute retro appearance reminiscent of the legendary Volkswagen Beetle, and a driving range of 310-420 km, has arrived in Israel.
More details about the Ora Next Cat
In China, the same car is known as the Ora Lightning Cat: the production version debuted in China in October 2022, but it was decided to change the name for export. Outwardly, the Next Cat is indeed quite similar to Porsche liftbacks, such as the Panamera. But at its core, it is still not a liftback, but a 4-door fastback: the rear window cannot be moved, a small cover leads into the trunk, with a retractable spoiler built in.
And although the electric car looks like a toy, it is 4,871 mm long, 1,862 mm wide and 1,500 mm high. The wheelbase is 2,870 mm. In terms of dimensions, the Ora Next Cat is close to the Toyota Camry and Mazda 6 sedans. It is based on the electric version of the L.E.M.O.N. modular platform, already used by the Haval brand. The car has frameless doors with recessed handles, full LED optics, wheels with a diameter of 18 or 19 inches (depending on the version).
The interior is designed for five people and is decorated in a sporty style. Adaptive cruise control and surround view cameras come standard. For an extra charge, you can get the Ora-Pilot 3.0 autopilot, which meets the level 2 autonomy: it has 10 cameras and 18 radars. Of interest is also climate control based on artificial intelligence, which monitors the temperature and pulse rate of passengers in order to regulate comfort in the passenger compartment.
The top-end version of the 2023 Ora Next Cat will be delivered to Israel. It is a twin-engine all-wheel drive version (403 hp, 680 Nm), capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds. The driving range is about 700 km. In China, sales of the Ora Lightning Cat electric car began at the end of 2022. Prices including subsidies range from 26,000 to 37,000 dollars. The price of the Next Cat in Israel is still unknown.
