Ora Lightning Cat Is A Weird But Awesome Family EV From China

There are so many different cats in the world. Leopards, jaguars, lions, tigers, pumas, and more – these beautiful animals populate different areas around the globe. But in China, there’s one more cat family and it’s the Ora Cat range of electric vehicles. This portfolio of funky-looking cars (there’s actually a Funky Cat as a model name) now also includes a relatively large family vehicle.

The gallery below depicts the so-called Lightning Cat, which is the largest and most powerful Cat in Ora’s current range. Our friends and colleagues at Wheelsboy recently got the chance to drive the Lightning Cat in its performance trim and they were kind enough to share an exclusive photo gallery with us. Their video review of the electric vehicle is at the top of this page.

So, what is the Lightning Cat? It’s a five-door electric vehicle with a polarizing design mixing retro vibes with touches from luxury automakers such as Porsche and Bentley. It doesn’t look bad from all angles and there are certain exterior details that we find interesting, such as the active rear spoiler and the Bentley-style taillights. Inside, the atmosphere is rather comfortable with fine brown leather and physical buttons for most of the functions on the dashboard.

In this performance version, the Lightning Cat comes with a dual-motor electric powertrain featuring one electric motor for each axle. The combined system output is 408 horsepower (304 kilowatts) and 501 pound-feet (680 Newton-meters) of torque, which is enough for a 0-62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) acceleration in just 4.3 seconds. The promised range on a single charge of the 83.5-kilowatt-hour battery is 373 miles (600 kilometers) but that is measured by China’s CLTC cycle.

As the host of the video explains, however, it takes more than just a lot of power for a car to be sporty. The suspension of the Lightning Cat is completely unable to cope with the strong powertrain even in the most hardcore driving mode. The steering isn’t any better, which makes the vehicle better for comfortable cruising rather than aggressive cornering.