KUALA LUMPUR: The Ora Good Cat from Great Wall Motor was previewed in conjunction with the opening of the Chinese automaker's office here today.
The retro-styled electric car in attractive contrast colours will be launched in Malaysia in the fourth quarter of 2022.
This is not the first preview as the Good Cat had made its first appearance at a convention event here on Dec 6 last year.
As an "Open, Reliable and Alternative" (yes, that's actually what Ora stands for) brand, Great Wall Motor Malaysia is optimistic it would get the same positive reception as in Thailand, where there is a waiting list of some 3,000 units since its launch there in October 2021.
The fully imported Good Cat is sold in Thailand in 3 variants from RM104,000 to RM130,000 following government incentives. Local assembly there is expected from 2024; the car would also be exported within the region.
The Good Cat is known as Haomao (Chinese term that literally means Good Cat) in China and Ora Funky Cat in Europe. The fact it has hints of Porsche is because it was designed by Emanuel Derta who used to work for the German sports car company.
Initial batches of the Good Cat for Malaysia would be fully imported from China but would soon be locally assembled in Gurun, Kedah, in partnership with Go Auto Group, which has been Great Wall's distributor for Haval SUVs since 2013.
The 1.5-tonne Good Cat is about the size of the VW Golf and comes in two battery configurations affording a 400km or 500km range (NEDC) with a corresponding 47.8-kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery or 63.1 kWh battery.
A Great Wall Motor Malaysia official said the display unit was the 400km version with the 47.8-kWh battery and that the Good Cat had been benchmarked against the Nissan LEAF.
The CATL battery it uses is located under the floor of the car while the battery/motor management components are placed under the bonnet. So there's no frunk or storage compartment in the front unlike some electric cars like the Tesla Model S/X or Hyundai Ioniq 5.
The electric motor is in front so this is a front-wheel drive car. The motor produces 143PS/141hp and 210Nm of torque for a top speed of 152kph.
A performance version called Good Cat GT is also available with a more powerful motor making 172 PS/170hp and 250Nm of torque for a range of up to 400km.
Besides the Ora Good Cat, Great Wall Motor Malaysia is expected to launch two SUVs in the near term. They are the electrified 243 PS Haval H6 and the 190 PS Jolion, whose rollout are in line with the company's focus on new energy vehicles for South-East Asia.
