New Zealand is getting another sub-$50k EV

Wednesday, 8 February 2023

The neo-retro Ora Good Cat will hit its targets under-$50k starting price, according to a dealer website.

A new affordable EV is coming to New Zealand. Well, we actually already knew it was coming, but now we’ve got dealer-confirmed pricing.

The Ora Good Cat, a quirky-but-brilliant little Chinese hatchback now has a starting price of $49,990 before any rebates or on-road costs, according to a page on the Brendan Foot website. That puts it exactly on par with the MG ZS EV as the two cheapest EVs in New Zealand.

At the time of writing, the Good Cat is the only electric hatchback available in New Zealand.

For that, buyers get the 48kWh battery, which should offer a real-world range of around 300km, plenty of active safety equipment like active cruise control and lane-keep assist, and a single front-mounted electric motor producing 126kW/265Nm.

Brendan Foot also confirmed a two-model line-up, with the base model joined by the GT model which gets more aggressive styling, red and carbon fibre bits on the body, GT badging and different wheels.

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Overseas, a 59kWh battery and a 64kWh battery are both available, but we’re likely to only take the latter. This should push range comfortably over the 400km mark, although could well be a GT exclusive.

Other standard kit includes twin digital screens, a selection of Mini-esque toggles below the vents, a nice two-spoke wheel, wireless phone charging, and decent storage.

But, more importantly, buyers of the Good Cat get a genuinely good car to drive. When we reviewed a pre-production prototype late in 2022, we found it to already have well-sorted suspension and nicely weighted steering, not to mention the impressive standard kit.

While the hatchback layout puts the Good Cat in a category of its own (for now) the external looks set it aside again. There’s more than a little bit of inspiration from the Volkswagen Beetle, Mini Cooper and even a little hint of Porsche in the front end, while the rear reminds a bit of a Nissan Micra. If only that rear light extended across the entire width of the boot…

The final piece of the puzzle is when exactly customers will get their Good Cats. Brendan Foot only says the car is “coming soon” and it doesn’t say if both the Good Cat and Good Cat GT will arrive at the same time, only that both models will indeed come to New Zealand.

Update:

After the original story was posted, Great Wall Motors, distributor for Ora, contacted Stuff with a full press release including pricing, arrival times and specifications.

GWM will offer the Good Cat in three guises – the $49,990 Standard Range; the $55,990 Long Range; and the $60,990 GT.

Both the Long Range and GT get the larger 64kWh battery, with a WLTP-claimed range of 420km. In terms of spec, the Standard and Long Range models are identical save for the battery, while the GT gets the extra exterior bits, an electronic parking brake, heated steering wheel and automatic parking.

The first shipments are expected in April.