We bought a two-year-old electric car with a R345,000 discount — how things have gone so far

We recently bought a GWM Ora 03 electric vehicle (EV) for around 40% less than its new price and have been thoroughly impressed with its incredible value for money compared to our previous petrol car.

Our discovery of the heavily discounted GWM Ora 03 400 Ultra Luxury GT happened late at night on a Sunday while browsing a major car classifieds platform in South Africa.

Having driven four EVs and being very impressed with the smooth experience, limited maintenance requirements, and potential cost savings over using fuel, I started making a habit of regularly checking for good deals on used EVs.

I was often surprised at the deep discounts on some low-mileage used EVs, many of which were available from reputable dealerships with full franchise histories.

The depreciation makes sense when considering mainstream EV adoption has yet to happen in South Africa, and many motorists are sceptical about the long-term life of batteries.

The recent return of load-shedding may also have dented resale values, as there is evidently a perception that the power cuts impede EV owners’ ability to recharge their cars.

I previously spotted an Ora 03 300 Super Luxury selling for just under R450,000, over 34% less than its starting price brand new. That is when I began doing more deep research into the vehicle.

Many South African car reviewers had high praise for the Ora, previously called the Ora Funky Cat, but overseas testers generally preferred the BYD Dolphin or MG4.

However, one of the big factors in that recommendation was the price of the Ora being substantially higher than the other two.

The Ora 03 GT demo we bought sells for R835,000 new but was listed at less than R490,000, working out to a 41% price cut. While we don’t really care for GT badges and red finishes, this offer was hard to resist.

At its price point, it was around R50,000 cheaper than the BYD Dolphin Standard Range, the most affordable new EV on the market. It also had substantially more power (126kW vs 70kW) and a larger battery pack (63kWh vs 45kWh).

The Ora had covered just 12,000km since being registered in 2023. That means it traversed less than half the average distance driven by South African motorists per year.

It also had five years remaining on its warranty and service plan, as well as six years and about 140,000km on its battery warranty.

The salesperson at the Williams Hunt dealership brought the vehicle to our office and after a test drive, I was sold.

The only issues were some paint chips on the bonnet, a barely noticeable dent on the boot, and scratches on two rims — making the R345,000 discount off the sticker price a steal.

After we secured financing and crunched the numbers, I calculated we would be paying about R1,000 more per month on our chosen repayment plan than we were paying for our Kia Sonet.

Factoring in the reduction in petrol costs compared to using electricity and the differences in insurance, the cost of ownership on the Ora was about R200 to R300 more expensive per month.

That excludes the impact of savings down the line due to the longer warranty and service plan and fewer parts to maintain.

Below are images of the GWM Ora 03 400 Ultra Luxury we bought secondhand from GWM in early March 2025.

With about a week’s worth of driving in the rearview, the Ora has not disappointed.

The car is loaded with tech and convenience features far beyond the capabilities of the Kia Sonet. Standout features include its intelligent driving assistance capabilities.

Firstly, the top-spec Ora 03 boasts a 360-degree camera system and ultrasonic sensors for environmental, vehicle, and pedestrian detection and autonomous parking and reversing.

It also supports adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, emergency lane keeping, front collision warning, rear traffic cross alert, blindspot monitoring, front collision warning, intelligent turning control, and try pressure monitoring.

In addition, it can read and present speed limits to automatically set this as the car’s maximum speed, if the driver prefers.

With regards to comfort, the Ora boasts the following:

• Two-zone climate control
• Perforated seats for cooling and heating
• Electrically adjustable driver and front passenger seats with three memory settings
• Electric anti-flare rearview mirror
• Electric-powered boot with kick-opening function

I have yet to establish the remaining battery life of the Ora GT’s 63kWh useable pack, which will be a priority over the next few weeks.

Although I bought an onboard diagnostics (OBD) scanner to try and check this, the protocol did not support battery health measurement.

After having fully charged the vehicle for the first time, the car’s energy gauge estimated it could drive about 397km on a full charge, nearly identical to its WLTP range of 400km.

I managed about 160km on 50% battery with roughly a 50/50 split between highway and city driving in cool weather, with some less-than-frugal driving.

My average consumption was around 18.6kWh per 100 kilometres, which means the car should be able to cover about 319km on a single charge with my current driving habits.

With some adjustments, I reckon getting the official average consumption of 16.8kWh per 100 kilometres is realistic, enabling over 350km of range on a single charge.

The table below summarises the main upsides and drawbacks we’ve experienced with the Ora during our first week of ownership.

GWM Ora 03 400 Ultra Luxury GT