ORA 07 unveiled in Malaysia to kick off GWM Malaysia’s 2024 offensive, open for booking

GWM has shown off their second ORA model to hit Malaysia, which now open for booking, called the 07, the car will be joining the smaller and more city-oriented Good Cat as part of their all-electric line up.

If you’ve not heard of the 07 yet, that might be because the car was known for much of its time following its international debut as the Lightning Cat, a moniker it has kept in other markets. However, and thankfully, the automaker figures our market would respond better to the simple name - a correct assertion, in our view.

Pricing, of course, will be revealed closer to its launch date slated for some time later in March 2024. However, we do know a fair bit of its initial specification as the car had already made its market debut in other ASEAN countries such as Thailand.

Mencius Meng, GWM’s brand director, said: “The GWM ORA 07 is a visual and technological marvel that epitomises the future of electric driving.”

It might share more than a few obvious cues with the first-generation Porsche Panamera (even down to its retractable rear spoiler), for better or worse. It’s a stylish little number, and ORA’s overall design language remains a bit of an acquired taste in our opinion, but the shape is extremely aerodynamic with a drag coefficient of just 0.22.

Measuring 4,871mm in length, 1,862mm in width, and a nicely rounded 1,500mm in height, the 07 is an obvious rival to the sleek and sportier four-door EV sedan (with a coupe-like roofline) market dominated by the Tesla Model 3 and the recently launched BYD Seal.

GWM will be offering the ORA 07 in both Long Range and Performance variants, both sharing an 83.5kWh ternary lithium battery. While the Long Range variant, advertised as 640km (NEDC), essentially shares the same front-mounted electric motor as the Good Cat GT (in the Thai market), outputting 204PS and 340Nm of torque.

Meanwhile, the Performance variant receives dual electric motors enabling all-wheel drive and a combined output of 408PS and 680Nm, but brings the range down to a still quite respectable 550km. GWM claim it’ll reach 100km/h from a standstill in 4.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 180km/h.

Its interior, with its T-shaped dashboard and frameless windows, is designed to look very minimal but simultaneously luxurious with a choice of either black or brown synthetic leather upholstery throughout.

Cabin include its a very large (1.7m) glass roof, support for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and a premium sound system from Infinity. There’s a plethora of active safety features, as you’d expect, including all the ADAS features you can list down.

In addition to the included manufacturer’s warranty, each ORA 07 will be offered with 5-years free maintenance. We’ll have more on the car as it inches closer to showrooms nationwide, but until then, it’ll be interesting to speculate how this will stack up against the BYD and Tesla.