GWM Ora 5 2026 review

Haven’t we seen this car before? Don’t let your eyes deceive you, this is not the GWM ‘Ora’ hatch, from GWM’s sub-brand of the same name, this is an entirely new small SUV.

Despite the mysterious upcharge habitually applied to SUVs, the Ora 5 starts cheaper than the old hatch at $33,990 driveaway in Lux trim, or $36,990 for the top-spec Ultra.

At that price, it competes at the very cheapest end of the electric SUV field with the likes of the BYD Atto 2 ($35,300 D/A) and Chery E5 ($37,990 D/A). Mainstream options such as the Hyundai Inster aren’t as far behind as you might think, with Korea’s offering currently priced from $35,990 driveaway

It all goes to show the Ora 5’s pricing is incredibly impressive, but it’ll need to compete on more than just dollar signs to cut through.

Later in the year, a hatchback version will arrive on skinner tyres and possibly a smaller battery pack that could lower the price even further. GWM is also considering a wagon version of the EV known as the Ora 5 Touring for Australia.

For the SUV, the standard feature set of the base Lux is rich, with 18-inch alloys, LED headlights and tail-lights and rear privacy glass outside.

Inside, a 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster sits adjacent to the huge 14.6-inch multimedia screen, a six-speaker audio system, fake leather upholstery on the steering wheel and fabric seat material along with six-way power adjustment for the driver’s seat and four-way manual for the passenger.

Stepping up to the Ultra swaps in fake leather on the seats (in a choice of either dark grey or cream), which also gain heating and ventilation up front, along with a nine-speaker stereo, heated steering wheel, 50W wireless phone charger, panoramic sunroof and a powertailgate.

All of which makes the $3000 walkup to the Ultra feel wise, and it’s exactly this version we sampled on our initial drive of the Ora 5 on Aussie roads.

The Ora 5 comes with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with eight-years and unlimited kilometres of coverage applied to high-voltage components such as the battery.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, and are capped for seven years; in which time you can expect to pay $1365.

How does the Ora 5 drive?

In many ways, the Ora 5 drives a lot like it looks: approachable and modern but perhaps not quite as fun as its design would suggest.

Outward visibility is immediately striking in the Ora 5, with huge windows and a panoramic sunroof in the Ultra making it easy to drive in tight city streets. GWM has also paid attention to key details here by fitting a solid 360-degree camera and given the panoramic sunroof a power sunshade – unlike many of its rivals.

At 4471mm in length, the Ora 5 is a touch longer than a traditional small SUV like a Hyundai Kona, though you get the feeling some of the extra bloat is down to its bubble-like extroverted styling, perhaps suiting its nature theme that spirals on with cues like four-leaf-clover-inspired 18in wheels.

The SUV version wears slightly chubbier 225/60 profile tyres than the incoming hatch, which aids the general feeling of comfort that the Ora 5 offers, but GWM’s small SUV still falls into the same trap often seen with Chinese SUVs that manage to have a floaty yet terse ride.

The suspension setup is a far sight better than what we’ve seen from previous GWM products, likely a product of former Holden engineer Rob Trubiani’s team working around the clock on incoming vehicles to make them better suited for our roads, but there’s still work to do here.

General lumps and bumps are fine, but hit a patch of road ache on a country road or in town and the suspension feels incredibly busy, with the chassis feeding through vibrations from the road we couldn’t even see with our eyes.

The Ora 5 is competent in a bend but it’s not inviting the driver to push harder either. Primarily, this is down to its lack of body control but also limited grip from the Chinese-sourced Fullrun tyres.

At higher speeds, we also noticed some mild rear-end instability, resulting from an overly bouncy reaction to a mid-corner bump.

Where the Ora 5 does perk up in performance is in terms of its drivetrain.

Cheaper EVs like this one are often underpowered and, at times, dangerous to overtake with at highway speeds, but the push past the initially relaxed throttle calibration and the Ora 5’s 150kW/260Nm front motor pulls consistently beyond the 100km/h threshold to get the job done.

Once up to highway speeds, it’s equally impressive just how silent the cabin of the Ora 5 is, particularly compared to other similarly priced combustion-engined hatchbacks and SUVs with limited sound insulation.

Calibration of safety assistance tech continues to be a bug-bear in GWM vehicles, with the driver monitoring system sounding continuously on our initial drive.

On the return route, we also experienced issues with the seat belt warning chime firing off at the driver every 10-15 minutes, despite it being buckled in the entire time.

It’s a short-range EV but its claimed 435km (WLTP) rating is still quite respectable for a city car at this price point. We also commend GWM for opting for the more durable LFP battery chemistry for the 58.3kWh pack, which should have no problems being recharged to 100 percent every time.

On our initial drive, we saw an average of 15kWh/100km, suggesting a real-world range figure of roughly 388km.

DC charging speeds are on the slow side with a peak of 120kW offering a 10-80 percent top-up time of 30 minutes. Similarly, AC charging is capped at 6.6kW, promising a flat-to-full charge time of 6.6 hours.

How is the Ora 5’s interior?

Available in a choice of either dark grey or cream in the top-spec Ultra, the interior of the Ora 5 is spacious, generally practical and flexes its youthful design without getting carried away.

A massive 14.6-inch touchscreen dominates the cabin, as per tradition in GWM interiors, but the quality and graphics shown in the latest Coffee OS is a step forward, backed by enough computing power to provide snappy responses to your inputs.

Which is good, because you’ll be making a lot of them. With limited physical controls, the driver is required to go several sub-menus deep, and the labelling in which functions are grouped isn’t always logical.

The 50W wireless charger fitted on the Ultra grade fits neatly in the centre console so you’ll never forget your phone. It’s complimented by sufficient storage under your elbow and within the interior door bins.

The front seats were supposedly put through 61 internal comfort evaluations at GWM, and they they are indeed pleasant to sink into on a longer driver. It’s just a shame that more lumbar adjustment, be that power or manual, wasn’t included to add more back support.

More impressive is that the front seats feature both heating and cooling in the top grade, which makes it better equipped for Aussie summers than most rivals.

Doubling down on this point is the inbuilt ‘Temporary Leave Mode’ that allows drivers to leave the car unlocked and the aircon running for up to two hours while they run into the shops on a scorching hot day and return to a perfectly airconditioned vehicle.

Row two is relatively spacious and could easily fit a pair of teenage children, with rear occupants also benefiting from solid visibility out. It loses marks for sporting a single vent instead of the traditional two, so the kids will just have to share.

The 362-litre boot is less accommodating for family life but this is partly down to the fact that GWM has introduced a space-saver spare tyre in Australia after listening to feedback from locals. The powertailgate fitted to the Ultra grade is another nice touch.

The honest verdict

The Ora 5 is an appealing small SUV for those looking for an affordable electric city runabout but it’s also a collection of lessons learned by GWM over the years that make it a good fit for Australia.

A glass roof that actually closes, the inclusion of a spare tyre in the boot, ventilated seats and a peppy little motor ready to overtake a roadtrain if you ever dare explore outside city limits are all appealing features that make the Ora 5 feel versatile and attractive beyond just its affordable price.

It’s a shame it’s not more fun beyond just its looks and the chorus of beeps and bongs from the safety systems and system errors suggest that GWM has rushed this one to market too quickly.