Full on feline fun: Funky Cat is new car from Ora, says RAY MASSEY

This is a cat that has the cream. For Funky Cat is the name of the eye-catching pure electric car from the new Chinese brand Ora.

I had people give their thumbs up and stop me on the street to talk about it.

Priced from £31,995, the four-door, five-seat First Edition launch model is smartly packaged and well stocked with plenty of standard equipment and a simple line-up with minimal options or ‘extras’.

I had a lot of fun driving it around Warwickshire – it was relaxing at pace on motorways and mastering winding country lanes during a deluge.

The car proved to be a delight with plenty of power in reserve for quick and effective overtaking.

Riding on 18-inch wheels, the electric front-wheel drive car’s 48 kWh battery develops 171 horsepower (126 kW), enabling it to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.3 seconds to a top speed limited to 99 mph and with a range of 310 km. The spacious interior and spacious rear have a premium feel, soft-touch upholstery and visible stitching. The flexible luggage compartment is compact but extends with the rear seats folded.

It’s a geek’s delight for connected electronic fun with a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, keyless entry, wireless charging, voice control commands to set navigation destinations, find the nearest charging station, or set the interior temperature; and an app that lets you control functions remotely from your smartphone, such as preheating or cooling your car.

But it can also be a bit of a controlling sitter, telling you if you’re at risk of doing something wrong or temporarily breaking the traffic rules, or seem tired or not paying attention. Controls could be tighter and navigation graphics could be confusing.

It scores a top five-star safety rating, and charging times (up to 80 percent) range from five hours and 24 minutes on a standard home charger to three hours and 12 minutes on a public charger – and just 42 minutes and 30 seconds on a fast 100kW DC charger.

Despite coming from China, the front styling resembles a baby Porsche. The interior is friendly and slightly retro – like a 1950s American ice cream parlor – with padded leatherette seats.

Generous standard kit with power front seats, rear center armrest with cup holders, front and rear power windows, rear parking sensors and reversing camera, leather-stitched steering wheel, power-adjustable and heated exterior mirrors, voice-over recognition, mini-style rocker switches, satellite navigation, wireless phone charging, Bluetooth and a 6 speaker sound system.

It’s about the size of a VW Golf and targets compact electric rivals like Volkswagen’s ID.3, the Cupra Born, Hyundai Kona and Renault Megane E-Tech.

From 28 November, the order books will officially open with the first showroom cars.

The car proved to be a delight with plenty of power in reserve for quick and effective overtaking

Priced from £31,995, the four-door, five-seat First Edition launch model is smartly packaged and well stocked with plenty of standard equipment

The interior is friendly and slightly retro – like a 1950s American ice cream parlor – with padded leatherette seats

The flexible luggage compartment is compact but extends with the rear seats folded

Riding on 18-inch wheels, the front-wheel drive electric car’s 48 kWh battery develops 171 hp (126 kW), accelerating it from standstill to 100 km/h in 8.3 seconds

There are four attractive launch colors: Aurora Green with Moonlight White roof; Mars Red with Starry Black roof; star black; and Nebula Green.

The maximum five-star rating in the EuroNCAP crash test – with a high score within that star – was due in part to the comprehensive Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) safety package that includes: automatic emergency braking with cyclist detection; intersection and lane assist and lane centering; traffic sign recognition; and adaptive cruise control. It also has blind spot detection and 360-degree cameras.

In-car sensors include facial recognition cameras and software designed to monitor who’s driving and track their habits, which may raise eyebrows among those concerned about “big-brother” civil liberties. Ora says the facial recognition system can be used to save different driver preferences and favorite settings and activate your personal settings the moment you get into the driver’s seat: “The system also works as a fatigue detector, ensuring that occupants staying safe when driving long distances, warning them if they get too distracted or tired.”

The turn signals are located in the headlights and provide an inviting light when you unlock the car. The indicator stem is digital and can be a bit fiddly to take out until you get the hang of it.

Expect more variants, including a cheaper model, a sporty GT and also a more powerful 61 kWh version with a range of 420 km. A bigger, longer and sportier fastback model – called Ora Next – will follow soon.

Hailing from China, Ora is the electric-only brand of one of the biggest automakers you’ve never heard of: Great Wall Motors. You will. Last year GWM sold 1.28 million cars worldwide and they are already in bed with BMW to build the next generation of MINIs in China – rather than in the ‘Home of the MINI’ in Oxford. Ora is their electric car brand.

The cars are imported into the UK by Birmingham-based International Motors, which already handles Japan’s Subaru, Isuzu and aftersales for Mitsubishi. It is setting up a network of established UK dealers to handle Ora sales, although customers can also choose and buy online, and aims to sell 5,000 cars by the end of 2023.

Ora was launched in China in 2018 and sold 135,000 cars there last year.

Mini lights up for charity

To get in the festive mood, an electric Mini has been decorated with Christmas lights — for a good cause.

This Mini Electric is packed in 3,000 smart LED app-controlled twinkling lights, which can generate custom animations including light patterns, messages and rhythms synced to your favorite song.

Party mood: This Mini Electric is packed in 3,000 smart LED app-controlled twinkling lights

It is the brainchild of Mini owner Nicholas ‘Nico’ Martin from Berkshire and is supported by Mini UK to raise money for people with multiple sclerosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy – a genetic condition that causes muscle degeneration. Each separately

double light on the Festive Mini can be sponsored for £2. The official ‘switch on’ took place yesterday at The Lexicon shopping center in Bracknell, Berkshire.

Festive Mini tour details at holidaysmini.com.

No call for winter tires

Winter tires, which provide extra grip in freezing weather, are mandatory in many European countries.

But here in the UK there’s no legal requirement – and only about one in five drivers would consider fitting them, according to a new survey from Audi.

Cold shoulder: In the UK, only about one in five motorists would consider fitting winter tyres, according to a new survey from Audi.

More than 60 percent say they definitely won’t.

Cost, possible inconvenience and lack of legislation were the main reasons given.

Audi noted: ‘For 44 percent of respondents, the lack of a legal obligation was enough to convince them to forego the added safety and protection of winter tyres.’

Imagine that

As British motorists prepare for the big freeze, I learn that the national winter and severe weather team leader for England’s strategic road network is called Matt Salt, for which news I am indebted to a National Highways press officer named Howard Rhoades.