Page 1: ORA Good Cat – The Looks, the interior, the practicality

On the (long) journey down south

On our 2,200km odyssey through Thailand and Malaysia, we’d been put behind the wheel of the 63.14kWh Good Cat, which was badged as “500 Ultra” in Thailand – the 500 denoting the car’s 500km range on the NEDC cycle. However, our local specification puts its range figure at 420km with an average efficiency of 16.7kWh/100km.

Range discrepancies aside, the powertrain of the 500 Ultra is identical to that of the Good Cats bound for Singapore. Under the sculpted hood (no frunk here) lurks a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor that sends all 143 horsepower to the front wheels.

That horsepower figure isn’t much, but it is enough for the Good Cat to be nested under the Category A COE banding. Besides, the immediacy of the 210Nm of torque on offer makes the car feel quicker and more responsive than its specs would have you believe.

Throughout our journey, the Good Cat demonstrated its adaptability to cope with a mix of poorly paved tarmac and smooth highway asphalt. As you approach higher speeds, the cabin insulation does a decent job of suppressing wind and tyre noise. And while we wouldn’t go as far as to say that the car offers a cosseting ride, the suspension setup copes impressively well with any and all manner of road imperfections short of deeper potholes.

How efficient is it?

Like most modern cars, the ORA Good Cat has various driving modes ranging from the requisite eco mode, sport mode and an Auto mode which juggles between responsiveness and efficiency. But we found that the Good Cat’s One Pedal drive – a drive mode itself, was better suited for efficient driving.

When driven civilly, the car can easily manage 14kWh/100km with a light foot. An impressive figure that beats that of the WLTP figure, but my co-pilot managed an even more impressive 13.2kWh/100km coasting along Highway 408 in the southern province of Thailand.

Intrigued? Our in-depth review of the Good Cat is here!

Is the ORA Good Cat fast?

Pin your foot to the floor and the car gets from 0-100km/h in just about nine seconds (exact acceleration figures aren’t listed). Flat out, the ORA Good Cat is good for a top speed of 152km/h on paper, but in the real world, the car is able to clock just under 160km/h – don’t ask me how I know.

But if you open the taps and drive in such a manner, you should expect to see your efficiency figure soar past 19kWh/100km. When your battery charge starts dwindling, you’d be limited to a top speed of 110km/h when you dip under 20%. Whittle it down even more, and you’d max out at 80km/h when your battery percentage hits single digits – again, don’t ask me how I know.

It’s a good thing that our cars were able to accept DC fast charging at a rate of 67kW per hour, which enabled us to replenish over 200km of range in under half an hour.

At this juncture, the ORA Good Cat is shaping up to be an impressive little EV that is perfectly capable in the day-to-day grind, or on cross-country journeys up north. The fact that it took me and a journalist friend of mine safely and comfortably across our cross-country 2,200km journey only proves how capable it is.

Factoring in its starting price of S$164,999 (at the time of writing) and the immensely generous wealth of options included in the car, the Good Cat is a bargain in the Category A COE EV space. 

ORA Good Cat

Click here to return to Page 1 where we talk about the ORA Good Cat’s design and practicality

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