Volkswagen pulled the plug on the Beetle in 2019. The Final Edition rolled out, and fans wept. It was a niche icon, sure, but losing that distinct rounded silhouette from US showrooms still stings.
Meanwhile, China keeps turning up.
Great Wall Motors’ sub-brand Ora is quietly manufacturing its own interpretation. The Ora Ballet Cat. It’s not just another electric hatchback. It’s a direct nod to the Type 1. And for 2026? It just got a lot faster.
Power Under the Plastic
Here is the meat of the update. Or, well, the wires.
For a while, this cute-looking EV limped around with 169 horsepower. That was enough to get from point A to point B. Maybe to look cute while doing it. But it wasn’t exciting.
In 2026, Ora is swapping the motor. The new setup pushes 201 horsepower. That is a jump. It also increases the top speed. The old model topped out at 96 mph. This one hits 112.
The source of this new grunt? A new lithium-iron phosphate battery pack. These cells are generally seen as safer and more durable, if a bit heavier. For a small city cruiser, the weight matters less. The performance bump is all that counts.
This news dropped via China’s Ministry of Industry and Informasi (MIIT) data. As noted by CarNewsChina, these figures are official. You can trust they’ll match production.
The Vanity Mirror Trap
Look closely at the Ballet Cat. The styling is a modern remix. Retro. Svelte. A bit sharp-edged where the original Beetle was bulbous. It works. It sells.
Ora only moves a few thousand of these per year. In a country that sells millions of cars. But the specs matter because the features matter.
The Ora Ballet Cat is built with specific demographics in mind. That includes a large vanity mirror. Not a tiny sun visor flap. A proper mirror. Why? To let drivers apply makeup without stopping. It’s an unusual ask. And a feature almost no Western manufacturer would touch with a ten-foot pole.
There is also a selfie camera. It uploads photos directly to social media. No phone tethering. No fumbling with Bluetooth. Just point, shoot, post.
Winter gets tricky in China? Engage Warm Man Mode. A button that cranks up the cabin heat faster than usual. Practical, honestly. Even if the marketing name makes you roll your eyes.
Price tags around ¥193,00. Roughly $28,00. For that money, you get a car that looks like it escaped a 1940s photoshoot with a Tesla engineer in the 1970s.
Will You Buy It?
Don’t hold your breath for American shores. Regulatory hurdles. Trade policies. A market that has no memory of why the Beetle mattered to begin with. It likely will never happen here.
Does it matter?
The Ora Ballet Cat succeeds in the only place it can: China. It offers distinct styling. Novel tech features. And now, respectable performance for the class. It fills a gap that big players ignore because “gender-specific” or “retro-flavored” EVs are hard to mass-produce for a global audience that wants boring silver boxes.
You can’t make this stuff up. A car with a heated seat button for cabin warmth and a social-media camera.
Volkswagen still sits on its hands. Fans wait for a return to the future. Ora is busy selling cute metal to people who actually want to drive somewhere while fixing their hair.
Both strategies seem to be working.
Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Should the Beetle be back? Or should we just accept that the spirit of independent, weird auto design is alive and kicking somewhere else?
The Beetle died in the US. Its ghost is driving a fast electric hatchback in Shanghai.
It’s odd. It’s fun. It’s there.
