Category: funky cat

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MFG to get cheaper for the summer

One of the annoying aspects of owning an electric vehicle is the high cost of rapid charging (more than 50kWh) at charging locations and motorway services.

When I first got the Funky Cat, there were MFG chargers at my local garage, however, it was still a few months until they went live. They were expensive at 79p per kWh, so they were usually my charger of last resort.

However I saw today, in an email,  that for the next three months, they are reducing their prices to 59p per kWh.

From 1 July to 30 September 2026, you can charge for just 59p per kWh at every UK EV Power location – down from 79p per kWh. That’s a saving of 25%, or around £6 on a typical charge.

This makes them comparable to the peak cost of Tesla chargers. This is also a lot cheaper than the cost of the InstaVolt chargers, which I also use, which are now 92p. Hopefully we might see a little more competition in charging pricing.

This 59p price from MFG is available not just with the MFG app, but also with standard contactless payment, which is a bonus.

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Still fixed

I did the fix for my malfunctioning Ora Funky Cat app the other day and today the app is working as expected, reporting on the current charge and predicted range of the Funky Cat. I will keep an eye on it even so.

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Fix for the malfunctioning ORA Funky Cat app

I wrote earlier about an issue I was having with the Ora app.

When I put the Funky Cat on charge this week, the app was showing no change to the charge. Checking the actual car, I could see it was charging. 

Since then I have been unable to see the real charge of the Funky Cat through the app.

I wasn’t alone and on various forums others were having the same problem.

However, there is a possible solution.

Use the app to unlock the car, then refresh the app interface and check whether the data is synchronised. 

If this is the case and it is synchronised then the app now should be working correctly.

I tried this method and it worked for me (and has for others).

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No more Ora

headlight of a red car

Slightly old news, in April GWM announced that the Funky Cat (now known as the Ora 03) is being phased out of UK dealerships after four years. This means that GWM have stopped selling the Ora Funky Cat in the UK Essentially the reason was that it did not sell. In the first three months of 2026 they sold just 26 cars.

I did like the quirky look of the Ora Funky Cat, but that quirkiness obviously did not appeal. I was always thinking about replacing the Funky Cat with the ORA 07. However, that model never made it to the UK market.

My lease for the Funky Cat is ending at the end of July. I was given the option to extend the lease or even purchase the car. I did think about it, however with the dealerships disappearing, and stories about issues with spare parts not being available, the decision was almost made for me. 

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ORA Funky Cat app malfunctioning

I initially thought this was just me.

When I put the Funky Cat on charge this week, the app was showing no change to the charge. Checking the actual car, I could see it was charging. 

Since then I have been unable to see the real charge of the Funky Cat through the app.

Thought this was a fault with my app, but on a few Facebook ORA groups, it looks like I wasn’t alone. Consensus is that this is not a problem with the car or the app, but the servers which facilitate the connection between the app and the car.

Hopefully it will get fixed soon.

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Yes, there are chargers

Packwood House

I had been planning to visit Packwood House, a National Trust property in Warwickshire. Before heading up I checked the National Trust app on my phone and there was no indication that there were EV chargers there, I was pretty sure there was. Had I messed up, confused it with another property. I was convinced that there were chargers there, so I checked the entry on the National Trust website and there on the property page was information about the EV chargers. The app was updated so did make me wonder. The search function on both the app and the website weren’t providing accurate results either.

So, as I drove up the M5 to Packwood House, I did wonder if they would have any chargers there. As I drove into the entrance there was a sign indicating the way to the EV charging. They were close to the reception. These were the same kinds of chargers I have used at other National Trust properties. A simple matter of plugging the cable into the Funky Cat and then using contactless payment to start the charging.

It’s quite slow to charge, but ideal if you are visiting somewhere, you can put your car on charge, enjoy visiting the house and gardens, have a cup of tea, and when you get back to the car there is charge on the car.

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Efficient Driving

Well that was quite surprising.

I was driving from Weston to London, a distance of 140 miles. I didn’t have a full charge, but the Funky Cat was reporting a predicted range of 165 miles. The trip consisted of in the main motorway driving, up the M5 and then down the M4. Experience with motorway driving told me that I would struggle to do the 140 miles with a 165 mile range, so was expecting to stop on the way to add some charge to the Funky Cat. I wouldn’t expect to have 25 miles on the car left.

However, the motorways were quite slow, with heavy traffic. I noticed that as I drove the AEC figure was dropping. By the time I arrived at London the AEC figure was down to 20.0 and I had a predicted range of 40 miles left. 

With a 48kWh battery in the Funky Cat, a figure of 20kWh/100 mile could mean a theoretical range of 240 miles… The normal figure I see is in the 25-27 range which is around 185 miles. The WLTP for the Funky Cat is 193 miles. This experience was highly unusual.

When I got to London I added some charge with some on street charging.

Driving back home to Weston, there was less traffic on the roads, so it was quicker, but as a result I used more power for the same distance home, I only had a 56% charge when I left London, so had to stop and charge and had an issue with that.

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On street EV charging

One feature of London suburban streets is the availability of on-street EV charging, usually making use of street lighting to provide the power.

I was staying with family in Wimbledon in London and I decided to take advantage of the availability of the charger to charge the Funky Cat.

It is a slow charger just pushing out around 5 kWh, so this is a solution for when you have time to charge. There is a twelve hour limit for the charger I was using. Despite the slow speed, it’s not cheap, between 7am and 12pm it’s 60p kWh but overnight it falls to 40p which is better value.

I only used it for three hours getting 15.6 kWh. The real advantage was convenience, not having to drive somewhere to charge was a real bonus. Of course for local residents who don’t have a driveway, this is a solution for when you need a charge.

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Problem, not my problem

One of the regular places I charge when travelling back from London is the Tesla chargers at the Westbound Reading MOTO Services. There are no Tesla chargers on the Eastbound side, why that is, I do not know.

It normally just works at these chargers, but on this visit, the charger failed to work. Usually I never have problems with these chargers, however having arrived and parked, but was unable to start he charge on the app. This also then locks the charging cable  in the car. I then had to do the usual hassle of opening the bonnet to manually release the charger from the car. I moved the car and put it on charge and it all worked fine from then on.

I don’t think this was a problem with the Funky Cat, I think that there was a specific problem with that charger.

I did get 23.8 kWH in 35 minutes, which took the Funky Cat from around 30% to 50%. This was delivering at a rate in the region of 50kW. One of the downsides of the Funky Cat is that it can’t take advantage of the speed of some of the rapid chargers out there. Some are rated to deliver 350kW, the Funky Cat can’t take that kind of power.

Having reached just over 80% I stopped the charge and unplugged. I find it strange that unplugging after a successful charge just works. I wonder if there is a kill switch on the charger itself so that it doesn’t remain locked when a charge fails to initialise.

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The Funky Cat has a puncture

A couple of weeks ago the Funky Cat had a puncture. I was driving into Bristol on the B3128 down Clarken Coombe. There was a rock in the road, which I tried to avoid, failed and it ripped a huge hole n the side of the front nearside tyre. I was able to make it the lay-by.

The Funky Cat doesn’t have a spare tyre, it has a pump and some tyre repair fluid. I knew that this probably wouldn’t work as this didn’t feel like a normal puncture.

The air pump and the tyre repair fluid can only be used to repair sealed tyres with a puncture on the tread.

So, I made the decision to call the RAC, the Funky Cat is a lease car, so comes with breakdown cover. The problem I had was that where I was on the B3128 there was no phone signal. I had to walk into the Ashton Court woods to get enough signal, to check the website to get the right number and call.

The RAC was very quick and quickly got the wheel off, and then they headed off with the wheel to get the tyre replaced.

That took longer than it should have, but that wasn’t the fault of the RAC (or the tyre place). Once the RAC was back they completed the repair and I was on my merry way.