Great Wall sub-brand reveals twin cat electric attack

Thursday, 22 April 2021

Great Wall's Ora sub-brand has revealed two new EVs at the Shanghai Auto Show this week – the retro-tastic Punk Cat and the not-at-all-Porsche-like Lightning Cat.

The Punk Cat takes a bit of, ahem, inspiration from the Volkswagen Beetle, with a rounded nose, circular headlights protruding from each fender and a snub, 1950s-style rear end.

The whole thing looks fantastic, really, if a tad unoriginal, although this is a four-door and the Beetle was only a two-door model.

It’s hard to justify the ‘Punk’ part of the name, but you can’t deny the Punk Cat has style.

Inside is more retro goodness, with a slim, simple steering wheel featuring touch controls for audio, a round, digital instrument cluster with a rectangular digital infotainment screen, lots of white leather, shiny inserts, and round vents and controls.

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The Lightning Cat looks a little like a ‘what-if’ scenario where Porsche shrunk the Panamera to compete with the Tesla Model 3.

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Two digital displays in the console and all the brown leather you could ask for.

Ora didn’t mention powertrain specifics, but its other vehicles use a 35kW electric motor pulling power from a 33kWh battery. In other words, this is an urban runabout, not a performance powerhouse.

The other vehicle revealed was the Lightning Cat concept, also using an all-electric powertrain.

Apparently, this car gets two electric motors instead of one and the eventual production model will be able to crack 100kmh in 3.5 seconds.

In terms of design, the Lightning Cat features a set of oval headlights that wouldn’t look out of place on a 911, a closed-off grille, a sloping roofline that covers four doors before tapering to a point just above the rear bumper.

Interestingly, the rear lights look sort of like elongated versions of the PT Cruiser’s taillights, although without the indicator section.

The whole thing looks a bit like if Porsche shrunk the Panamera to a Model 3-sized electric competitor and, to be honest, it looks great.

Inside is a swathe of brown leather, a steering wheel that looks ready for production and two touch screens in the centre console.

It looks like the larger landscape display is for infotainment while the smaller portrait unit is for controlling various vehicular aspects.

Both of the Ora Cats look to be headed for production, but there’s little chance of them making it out of China in any official capacity.