The ORA 07 will land locally with two variants promising up to 640 km of range on a single charge.
For those who may be interested in placing an order for the Tesla Model 3 or soon-to launch BYD Seal, you may just want to hold off on that thought just yet. That is as in a rather surprising move, Great Wall Motor (GWM) has recently announced that it will soon be debuting its ORA 07 locally within the first quarter of this year.
The second addition to its locally lineup after the cutesy Good Cat hatchback, details regarding this upcoming arrival is unfortunately still to be thin on the ground thus far. GWM has nevertheless confirmed that this larger all-electric sedan will land over here in two guises: the first of which will feature a single front-mounted motor and an expected range of 640 km, while the other is a dual-motored variant with a claimed range of 550 km.
Now for those who may have been paying attention to the ASEAN EV space, these specs do indeed correspond to the Long Range and Performance trims of the ORA 07 that was just launched in Thailand last December. So to that end, it could therefore be expected that the aforementioned range figures quoted by GWM will likely be from an 83.5 kWh ternary lithium battery featured in both these trims found in the cars offered to our neighbours up north.
Going from the Thai specs too, it is looking likely that the single-motored variant will be rated for a power and torque output of 150 kW and 340 Nm. The dual-motor configuration meanwhile should pack a combined 300 kW and 680 Nm of torque.
Though perhaps most pertinently with this Thai connection is for a guesstimate on its local launch price, as GWM Malaysia has still remained firmly tight lipped on that until further notice. The ORA 07 currently retails over in our neighbours up north for between 1.299 million baht (RM 172,000) and 1.499 million baht (RM 200,000), which if it is able to arrive over here with those prices will place it smack-dab in between the brewing sub-RM 200k B-segment e-sedan sales battle between the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal.
Just touching a little more on what the ORA 07 has to offer here, from the outside its bug-eyed face and liftback arse is complemented by retractable door handles and an active shutter grille. The Performance trim over in Thailand also features a powered tailgate, as well as an active rear spoiler alá Porsche Panamera.
Moving on inside, the admittedly Bugatti Chiron-esque central stack with vertical rotary dials is joined by a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Other amenities featured within the ORA 07 includes an 11-speaker sound system and 60:40 split-folding rear seats, with the Performance trim adding a heads-up display and ventilated front seats with a massaging option.
“We are thrilled to bring the ORA 07 to Malaysia, reinforcing our commitment to providing our customers with top-notch, eco-friendly transportation options,” said Cui Anqi, managing director of GWM Malaysia “The Malaysian market holds tremendous potential, and we believe ORA 07 will attract customers seeking uniqueness,” he added.
