GWM is a gigantic Chinese brand and the latest entrant in the Nepalese market also looking to bring the EV for the masses, the GWM ORA R1. Internationally, the R1 is sold as part of Great Wall’s ‘ORA’ EV sub-brand (which stands for Open, Reliable, and Alternative).

The R1 electric car is based on the company’s ME pure-electric platform, China’s first proprietary electric vehicle (EV) platform, that revolutionizes China’s fuel-to-electricity, low-speed EV market and pioneers the innovations in the EV sector, says the company.

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The GWM Ora R1 is distinguished by its round, chrome-encased headlights, circular ORVMs, heavily flared wheel arcjes, protruding front and rear bumpers, a curved tail section, and oval tail-lights. The Ora R1 features a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system with connected car technology.  Great Wall Motors offers it safety features such as front and side airbags, tyre pressue monitoring system, reverse parking sensors with camera, ESP, traction control, hill ascent control, adaptive braking system, and electronic parking brake.

While the base-spec variant of the GWM Ora R1 gets a 28.5kWh battery pack, the long-range variant uses a 33kWh pack for a claimed range of over 351km (NEDC cycle). Its electric motor develops 48PS of power and 125Nm of torque. The petite dimensions of the Ora R1 make it possibly the smallest electric car in the world with rear doors.

What will be a major draw for the R1 is its affordability. In China, prices for the R1 start as low as 59,800 RMB to 77,800 RMB (NRs 10.92 Lakh – Rs 14.2 Lakh), it remains to be seen how Great Wall Motor proposes to make the R1 as affordable in the Nepalese market. Expect the GWM Ora R1 to be priced somewhere around Rs 20 Lakh bracket.