In this fast-moving world, we wouldn't blame you if you rolled your eyes reading about yet another new car being launched. New vehicles, new designs, new names, and the mind-boggling array of trim levels and stats about emissions - or lack of them - are as natural to promote as pigeons coming home to roost, writes Tim Barnes-Clay. You could argue that this article buys into all that. You may have a point, but this piece aims to inform you rather than add further fuel to the spin that abounds in today's media.
So, the brief here is to look at a little car that isn't blowing its horn too loudly. Sure, it's been showcased at 'Everything Electric', a festival about electrification, as the name heavily suggests. But it's also a pretty modest machine, worthy – we think – of our attention.
We are talking about Hyundai’s Inster. Like all new things, it's easy to get carried away admiring its different looks. Sure, 'uniqueness' wears off once a car becomes a common sight, but for now, indulge us as we examine the Inster.
Hyundai’s first small SUV EV has a vaguely ‘futuristic’ exterior and a surprisingly roomy interior. It will seat four adults comfortably and has 280 litres of boot space (bigger than the Kia Picanto’s), so you'll get a baby buggy in there – or a couple of medium-sized suitcases with the rear seats in place. The Inster is like the love child of a Honda e and Fiat’s new, and slightly larger, global player – the Grande Panda. However, due to the Inster’s price, which we'll come on to, its rivals will likely be the Citroen e-C3 and Renault 5. The much cheaper Dacia Spring might also be a thorn in its side.
We have yet to drive the Inster, but the car houses a technology package that, according to Hyundai, helps with safe, refined driving. Of course, the firm would say that – but it’s true – the compact car will do all it can to protect you. After all, Hyundai wants to keep its customers happy – and alive! So, inside the new car, you get parking collision avoidance, lane-keeping assistance, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, and a driver attention warning system. There is a whole bunch of other safety tech housed within the Inster, but you can ‘Google’ the rest if you want to examine it to the nth degree.
Besides how well you’ll be protected in a crash (the Inster hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP yet), the biggest question about an EV is how many miles you can get out of its battery. With the Inster, Hyundai’s not bashful about its claim. According to the East Asian manufacturer, its electric baby has a range of over 200 miles.
On that note, we'd better take a gander at the guises in which the Inster comes in. The line-up kicks off with the £23,495 Inster 01 42kWh 97PS. The car sits on 15-inch alloys and is kitted out with a 10.25-inch touchscreen display with navigation, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. Hyundai also furnishes the entry-level Inster with rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, smart cruise control, automatic headlights, keyless entry, and a start/stop button.
For a model that can be yours for as little as £248.57 per month, you get generous comfort features, including climate control, a leather steering wheel and power-adjustable and heated door mirrors. The 01 will apparently do 0-62mph in 11.7 seconds, will get to 87mph, and is capable of up to 203 miles of range. But it’s also offered (for £25,045) with a bigger 49kWh battery, boosting power to 115PS, the 0-62mph time to 10.6 seconds – and the top speed to 93mph. Its electric range also goes up to 220 miles.
If you want a little more luxury from this little SUV, and you’re prepared to dig a bit deeper into your pockets, then the £26,745 Inster 02 49kWh 115PS could be the version for you. It has everything the 01 has but comes with the larger ‘long-range’ battery as standard, 17-inch alloys, LED lights, front parking sensors and privacy glass. Oh, and roof rails are also part of the more expensive Inster’s exterior features.
The cabin boasts a heated multifunction steering wheel with LED lights and chilled-out ambient lighting. But the 02 doesn't stop there; you get to choose from 64 shades of light. On the practical side, the Inster, in this form, possesses fold-flat front seats and a sliding rear bench. Boot capacity grows to 351 litres if you slide the rear seats forward, allowing you to get a third medium-sized suitcase in. The 02 also adds heated front seats, a wireless charging pad, and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
We mentioned choice when it came to the ambient lighting on the 02; well, you can go one further by being able to personalise the Inster 02 49kWh. There is the option of a tech pack containing a Vehicle-2-Load (V2L) internal three-pin plug and a digital key system that enables the Hyundai to be unlocked and started with a smartphone. You can also opt for a black contrast roof and door mirrors.
Continuing with the colour theme, the Inster is available in nine exterior shades. Inside, the Inster 01 comes with black cloth, whilst the Inster 02 also offers black cloth or a beige and khaki brown cloth interior.
The Inster models can handle DC fast charging, so will charge from 10-80% in just half an hour if you pop into an electric forecourt with high power chargers. Mind you, you’re looking at nearer eight hours if you suck electricity from a typical 7kW home AC wall box. The Inster houses a factory-fitted 11kW onboard charger, though, which will give you a speedier charge if you chance upon an 11kW AC EV charging station in town. These units charge almost 60% quicker than 7kW wall boxes.
Hyundai has fitted a standard battery heating system and a high-efficiency heat pump to its Inster, all of which optimise range and charging times. The V2L functionality we mentioned earlier offers power for external appliances, allowing you to charge anything from a laptop to an electric scooter or bike, to camping equipment.
The small SUV with its chunky wheel arches, LED lighting, raised ride, and smart, versatile interior will be hard to ignore when it hits our roads soon. Yes, you may indeed be rolling your eyes by now. After all, this is just another EV – albeit one that delivers impressive flexibility with an expected energy consumption of up to 4.2 mi/kWh. But maybe you’ll be more interested in how optimistic Hyundai is about this car.
What are we on about? Well, according to new research by Finn, EVs could be on the wane. This is only true in Germany for now – but seeing as this European country is one of the world's largest car capitals and one of the most sustainable nations, it's potentially worrying news for EV manufacturers. You see, despite Germany's focus on environmental issues, all fuel types in the country have gained in popularity since the first half of 2023 - with one exception – electric cars. In the first half of 2023, over 220,240 EVs were registered in Germany, but this figure dropped to 184,125 in 2024, representing a 16.40% decline.
Hyundai doesn’t seem fazed by this, so you have to deduce the automaker has heaps of faith in its all-electric Inster. By the way, it’s built on the design legacy of Hyundai’s Casper, a petrol-propelled model obtainable in South Korea.
We will leave the last words of this article to Ashley Andrew, President of Hyundai & Genesis UK. He says: “The Inster will be the most compact member of the Hyundai electric vehicle family and proves that good things really do come in small packages. Its exceptional capabilities and advanced equipment will challenge expectations of what a small EV can deliver, and we have been hugely encouraged by the interest it has generated in the UK since it was revealed.”
