The Beetle Continues to Buzz in China – First Drive of the Ora Ballet Cat

For some, it’s just a brazen copy; for others, it’s an automotive tribute. Regardless of how lawyers, purists, fans, and admirers evaluate the Ora Ballet Cat, it stands out as the most charming continuation of a seemingly endless story.

After VW promised that the Beetle would keep running indefinitely, the production eventually ceased, and two generations of the Beetle only moderately replicated the success of the original. Now, the Beetle is crawling through Chinese cities as the Ora Ballet Cat, starting at just under 20,000 euros for the past two years. Naturally, it’s electric and features a design that Wolfsburg never achieved.

Though it’s only 4.40 meters long and has a silhouette reminiscent of the original, the Chinese Beetle offers four doors. As a member of the Great Wall family, it sits on a modern skateboard platform, similar to the Ora 03 available here and the new Mini Cooper E, with the battery on the floor and the motor at the front axle.

Ora Ballet Cat: 171 HP and 250 Nm

Despite its practicality, it’s not vastly more functional. Yes, it’s comfortable in the front and reasonably so in the back. However, it offers only a relatively small trunk at the rear, lacking the “frunk” that would keep it closer to the original. The front houses the motor, currently available with 171 HP and 250 Nm. It’s powered by a 50 kWh battery for 400 kilometers or a 60 kWh battery for 500 kilometers, but it lacks a fast charger. Instead, it relies on 6.6 kW, requiring eight to ten hours of charging before it’s ready for the next drive.

Externally, Ora deliberately plays with nostalgic charm, painting the Chinese Beetle in two colors and adding plenty of chrome. Inside, however, it’s a modern vehicle with digital equipment, including a selfie camera with WeChat integration, contemporary assistants, and features that manufacturers here wouldn’t dare to offer.

Full of Stereotypes: Ora Ballet Cat Marketed as a Women’s Car

The Chinese have no issue with stereotypes, positioning the Ballet Cat as a women’s car. They extol modern-day princesses who are tired of dreaming about crystal shoes only to wake up with boring cars. They include a storage compartment for lipstick and other items in the Swarovski crystal-studded center console, an oversized makeup mirror with Hollywood lighting adjusted to the Asian complexion, and they even take female biology into account in the climate control system.

When the valued customer feels cold, moody, and unwell, the “Warm Man” mode of the Ballet Cat warms the skin and heart, Ora unashamedly advertises. But whether women really want to know that the assist systems are conservatively tuned for them, warning louder and intervening earlier, and whether they actually cannot handle turning on the wipers and lights and adjusting the air conditioning in bad weather, even the toughest machos might question today.

One thing is clear: the driving comfort in the Ballet Cat is undeniable. No, the electric small car is not as graceful as a ballerina, nor does it drive as delicately. But it surpasses any Beetle – whether with the original air-cooled rear engine or the water-cooled front engine of the two Beetle generations. With the punch of its electric motor, it accelerates better than any Beetle ever did, and its top speed of 155 km/h is at least comparable to that of the classic models.