Chinese car maker GWM has launched a model in Australia – a small electric SUV known as the Ora 5 with a driveway price of from just $33,990. It arrived in showrooms in June, and we had the opportunity to spend some time with it at an event in Melbourne.
The Ora 5 is a bigger car than the original Ora EV hatch, which will make a comeback in GWM’s local electric line-up later this year, and comes in just under 4.5 metres, with a range of new colours.
The new Ora5 is powered by a 150 kW front-mounted motor which is fed by a 58.3 kWh LFP battery. This battery will deliver up to 430 km of WLTP range, making it quite competitive with other small SUV offerings and even doing better than the popular BYD Atto 2, which has 345 km of WLTP range.
GWM says the design of the car takes inspiration from nature, including the shape of river stones. And on the inside, the build quality has certainly been improved from the Ora EV hatch, and now feels above its price point, offering plenty of value for first-time EV buyers in the market.
According to GWM, it has received more than 3,000 expressions of interest since the brand officially unveiled the model at the Melbourne Motor Show this year.
Driving around the streets of Melbourne, you can also tell that GWM has learnt a lot from previous models and have put quite a bit of effort into local tuning which the company is now undertaking across its model range.
Through the streets of North Melbourne towards the Eastern Freeway, it felt very comfortable on the inside with acceleration and regen settings adjusted to what I prefer on the road.
Stop-and-go traffic with autohold meant that driving in traffic was quite a comfortable experience.
Where the car’s suspension and its turning really came to life was on the winding roads around the Yarra Valley. The car felt quite stable through corners with minimal body roll or floatiness.
That slight level of stiffness in the suspension felt just right to me as it gives the right amount of feedback without being all over the place from the less-locally tuned SUV models from other brands.
On our road test, we averaged 15 kWh/100 km which was not bad considering the combination of city and high-speed country road driving we did on the test route with it.
On charging, DC fast charging is rated at up to 120 kW on this model, which can charge the battery from 30-80% in around 20 minutes. On top of that, the Ora 5 also includes vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, allowing it to supply up to 6 kW of external power.
On the colours front, it will be available in Pepper White, Emerald Green, Cute Cyan, Flamingo Pink, and Crystal Black. Pepper White is a standard no-cost paint option, while the other colours come with a $595 premium.
The GWM Ora 5 comes with a 7-year/unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty and an 8-year/unlimited-kilometre on the high-voltage battery pack.
As of June 2026, the GWM brand has 127 dealers across the country, helping this car reach more buyers than the original Ora. GWM hopes that the Ora 5 will be its best selling EV so far, and that it will underpin the brand’s vision to be in the top-3 best-selling Aussie brands in years to come.
