New Hyundai Inster to shake-up EV market with impressive range and price
New urban-friendly Hyundai Inster EV will offer up to 220 miles of range – almost double what the Dacia Spring can muster
The small, affordable electric-car market is hotting up, and the latest entrant is looking to turn things on its head. The Hyundai Inster – based on the petrol-powered, Korean-market Casper city car – is set to arrive later this year, with up to 220 miles of range and a predicted £22,000 starting price.
The new arrival is equipped with a 42kWh battery as standard, but it’s the larger 49kWh layout that’s set to steal the headlines. Hyundai says the ‘Long Range’ car is capable of a rather conservative (and estimated, at this stage) 4.1mi/kWh, which in conjunction with the smallest 15-inch wheels, contributes to a Dacia Spring-beating claimed range. The standard car will do 180 miles on a charge.
The base car gets a 96bhp electric motor, while the Long Range version is boosted to 113bhp, making it capable of 0-62mph in 10.6 seconds. Top speed stands at 87mph or 93mph depending on whether you opt for the Standard or Long Range model, though torque is rated at 147Nm across the board.
All cars get a 120kW maximum DC charging rate, which Hyundai says makes the Inster good for a 10-80 per cent top up in 30 minutes. The city car will charge at 11kW (AC) where conditions allow, meaning a full charge of the bigger battery is possible in four hours and 35 minutes. The charge port (both AC and DC) is located on the nose, and it will also feature Vehicle to Load (V2L) technology.
The Inster’s body and wheelbase have been stretched slightly compared with the petrol Casper – presumably to accommodate the new car’s EV powertrain. Measuring 3,825mm long, 1,610mm wide and 1,575mm tall, the Hyundai is a little bit longer than the Spring, but shorter than the new Citroen e-C3. Hyundai claims 280 litres of boot space, or 351 litres with the sliding rear seats pushed fully forward. The upright stance should provide decent headroom inside.
The Inster’s design is distanced from other Hyundai EVs’, thanks to its unique proportions and bold front end. Much of the look has been lifted from the petrol-powered Casper, so the only real tie-in with the brand’s Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 models is the pixel-style lighting signatures to the front and rear.
Cladding along the sills and wheelarches gives the Inster more pseudo-SUV style than the Casper, complemented by a set of roof rails and silver scuff plates at both ends. As on the Casper, the rear door handles are hidden in the C-pillar.
Inside, the Inster features a “walk-through” front cabin with fold-flat seating for all four seats. There’s no centre console as such; instead the front seats merge into a kind of bench, with a pair of cupholders nestled within, plus a fold-down armrest to create some separation.
Exact specifications haven’t been announced, but Hyundai says “most equipment and technologies will come fitted as standard” with some of the “enhanced convenience and design features available optionally”.
A choice of 15-inch steel wheels or 15 or 17-inch alloy wheels will be available, alongside big-car features such as an opening glass roof and 64-colour ambient lighting. The suite of safety kit isn’t lacking either, with Hyundai listing features like an around-view monitor, blind-spot warning and autonomous emergency braking.
The dashboard boasts twin 10.25-inch displays with navigation and wireless phone charging; heated front seats and a heated steering wheel are also available. The switchgear is all familiar Hyundai fare – there are plenty of physical switches for things like the climate control and media functions – and the Inster inherits the Ioniq models’ illuminated spots on the steering wheel, which light up when the car is charging. While we’ve not had a chance to have a poke around, the Inster’s cabin looks to take a more upmarket approach than the back-to-basics Dacia.
Hyundai will offer an extensive palette of exterior colours, and customers can choose from either black, or Khaki Brown and Newtro Beige two-tone interior trim. The maker says the Inster features plenty of sustainable materials, including paint made from tyres, plus recycled bottles and bio-polypropylene material “extracted from sugarcane” in the cabin.
Hyundai says the Inster will first launch in the brand’s home market, before going on sale in Europe “in due course”. That should mean the first cars start to trickle through to British dealerships in 2025, with the company confirming a “more rugged, outdoor-focused” Inster Cross model will join the range in the future.
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