It looks like a hatch at the back and the rear three-quarter view shows a practically-sized hatch. It’s ‘round the front where most people need a little convincing about GWM’s styling ideas.

If you live long enough in Fleet-land, you’ll find other examples of polarising front ends and while the Ora is as polarising as some I’ve seen in the past, but it does skate close to the line.

Is the future-retro styling a problem, however, when you weigh in everything else the GWM Ora GT has to offer? Like what?
Like a four-model line-up with extended-range batteries in three of them and a 400+km range in the GT tested.

Like spacious seating for five and five drive modes to supplement the single-speed transmission.

And then there’s the list of 29 driver aids and safety features, including Intelligent Dodge, driver drowsiness detection, intelligent cornering control and a 360-degree monitoring system as highlights which you would expect of cars with much greater pedigree.

Technologically speaking, the Ora is an intriguing confluence of innovations seen in other vehicles, starting with the get-in-and-go function.

Once you unlock the Ora and get into the driver’s seat, the car is ready to run, just rotate the gear selector to Drive or Reverse, release the electronic handbrake and you’re off. When you leave, a press of a button or the locking of the car brings the Ora to its ‘off’ state.

Does this sort of tech sound familiar? To EV aficionados – Tesla-rites and Polestar-ians – it will because these ‘benchmark’ EVs have something very similar. To find it in a GWM is more than a tad impressive.

And that leads us neatly into my favourite part of the Ora, the more than a tad impressive interior.

I won’t go so far as to say this is the best part of the Ora, but not only does the whole interior come together visually and tactilely, it also comes together in a symphony of technology where the parts are greater than the sum. Examples?

Ok, the digital fishes which swim around on the 10.25-inch infotainment screen on start-up or the digital representation of a disc as it plays your selected music. It’s these little things which bring all the technology into the real world of the driver.

All things considered the Ora GT delivers on the promise of being a driver’s car for the modern age. OK, it doesn’t give you the thrill of say a Trans Am, a Corvette Stingray or a 60’s era Mustang, but the modern motorists typically are not looking for the characteristics that made these cars legends.

Instead, they are looking for what the Ora GT so cleanly represents: a comfortable, quick, convenient, and eco-conscious car which they feel is delivering what they want it to.

Is it perfect? No, the boot is a tad small which makes you wonder about the hands-free power tailgate – why draw attention to a potential issue. But if that is the only criticism I have of the Ora GT, this is an electric hatchback which is doing everything else – and that’s a lot – right.

The GWM Ora then, can take pride of place in the top contenders of the EV world in my humble opinion. It’s an all-electric which could change the mind of a dyed in the oil petrolhead, and that distinctive nose? Yeah, it kinda grows on you after a week or so…