Category: funky cat

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Festive Charging

I was a little surprised and a little intrigued charging the Funky Cat to 100% today to have a predicted range of 182 miles.

The last time I got close to that it was back in October. More recently it has been between 140 and 160.

I haven’t had the chance to charge to 100% recently, using rapid chargers to charge the Funky.

My local MFG worked normally when I used that to charge the Funky, giving it an additional 50% charge.

I used a Mer charger at the local library, however despite having it on charge for 30 minutes, it only added 2% to the battery, so I gave up and went to my local MFG.

One interesting experience was using the MFG up at Cribbs Causeway, as it happens opposite the Wessex Ora dealership. I set it to charge, as it got going it did indicate that it needed thirteen hours for a full charge, I knew that it “fibbing”. I gave it a few minutes and it then gave a more realistic figure on the app of 85 minutes. With 50 minutes left to a full charge I decided to have a coffee, checking the app while I waited the time left had “suddenly” dropped to 20 minutes. I had to leave my coffee and go and grab the car.

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One year on…

A year ago today I was shopping at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, and I saw outside John Lewis a car on display.

Funky Cat

It was an Ora Funky Cat.

I had not only never seen the Funky Cat before, but I had also never heard of it either. I looked over it and really liked the look of it.

I looked over it and really liked the look of it.

Didn’t even think or realise that in less than a year I would be driving my own Funky Cat.

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It’s getting cold out there

It’s November and the weather is getting colder this week. The Funky Cat was telling me this morning that it was 0℃ outside.

I did appreciate using the app to heat the car this morning, so it was nice and toasty when I got inside, and that the windscreen was clear.

What was less appreciated was that certain features were unavailable. I couldn’t use Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Smart Cruise Control (SCC) was also not available. In addition the front assist sensors weren’t working, so  was told that wasn’t going to work either. I am not sure if this was the frost or even mud. 

Obviously these aren’t critical systems, in previous cars I never had them, and you shouldn’t really rely on them either when driving. Will need to see if they are back online later. Will keep an eye on it, just in case it is something other than the cold weather. 

I also think the cold is impacting on the battery and I am as a result getting a reduced range. I mentioned in another post how, even with a 100% charge, the car was predicting just a 147 mile range. Today it was only 141 miles.

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Only 147

I was rather disappointed on charging the Funky Cat that the predicted range was just 147 miles. I wonder if this is down to the cold weather we’ve been having, combined with using the heater.

The last time I charged to 100% it was 157 miles. Usually it is higher, and has been 185 miles.

 

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Muscle Memory

I have now had my Funky Cat for four months. This means I have been driving an electric car for four months, driving a car with no gears and an automatic transmission, driving a car with an electric automatic handbrake (well a parking brake). I’ve also had to get use to not having a rear windscreen wiper.

Prior to getting the Funky Cat I drove manual petrol (and diesel) cars for over thirty years. These had gears, manual transmission, a manual handbrake, and a rear windscreen wiper.

As a result, it isn’t too surprising that in some instances I still do things that I did driving a petrol car that I don’t need to do with the Funky Cat. I still have muscle memory based on those thirty years of driving experience.

For example, driving off from a roundabout, sometimes my left hand drops to change gear. Now and again, I try and put the handbrake on, where there isn’t one. When it’s raining, I still try and turn on the rear windscreen wiper. I smile when I do these things when driving the Funky Cat.

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Automatic Side Mirror Folding

When I got my Funky Cat I found it useful to fold the side mirrors into the car when I parked.

Looking through the manual, I realised I could set this automatically when I locked the car.

You can set the side mirror functions in 

【Vehicle Settings】→【Body】→【Side Mirrors】on the multimedia screen.

【Fold Side Mirrors】: Set the side mirror folding mode to automatic mode.

When set to automatic folding mode, the side mirrors are automatically folded and unfolded when the doors are locked and unlocked.

This made life much easier. It also gives me a visual cue that the car is locked.

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No more Funky Cat

headlight of a red car

No, I still have my Funky Cat, the story is that Ora are losing the Funky Cat moniker. Ora 03 is the new (European) name for the Ora Funky Cat.

I liked the fact that the car was called the Funky Cat. For me the quirky nature of the car, the name and looks was why I got the car in the first place. I was a little disappointed that my Funky Cat didn’t have Funky Cat on the back. 

It also looks like the Lightning Cat will also be renamed to Ora 07.

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Charging at the Q-Park Dickens Yard

When I had stayed in Ealing before I had parked my car in the Q-Park at Dickens Yard. On those visits I had remembered seeing the EV charging spaces as I drove through the car park to park.

So on my most recent visit to Ealing, driving there in the Funky Cat, I needed a place to park, so I decided I would try out the charging points in the Q-Park Dickens Yard Car Park.

Having first parked in a space with a non-functioning charger, I moved my car to a different space and, using my own cable, plugged the Funky Cat into the charger.

The process is different to other chargers I have used, you need to walk towards the pedestrian exit and there is a machine there. To be honest I nearly missed it. You then scan the barcode on your ticket and select the right bay on the screen. Then the charging starts.

The bill for the charging is added to your parking charge. So when you come to pay for your parking, your EV charge is added to the parking charge. This is nice and simple. The charge is 35p/kWh. These are Type 2 (7kW) chargers so won’t be charging your car that rapidly, but useful for adding charge to your car whilst shopping (or as I was eating). I got something like a 25% charge in just under two hours.

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It’s 185 again

I had charged to 100% on Friday, with a resulting 159 mile predicted range.

After a weekend of local driving and a 50% charge left,  I once again charged to 100% and the predicted range rose to 185 miles

Did some driving after charging, and as I write this, I have a 80% charge with a predicted range of 155 miles.

This is an interesting figure as 80% of 185 is 148 miles, so I am driving more economically than predicted. Of course if you inverse 155 miles at 80% to 100% you get 193 miles. This is the published range of the Funky Cat.

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185 yesterday, 159 today

The other day I charged up to 100% and had a predicted range of 168 miles.

Yesterday I charged to 100% and this range went up to 185.

Today I charged again to 100%, but the range dropped to 159 miles.

Despite the driving being quite similar, I still don’t quite get why it varies quite so much.