Hyundai Inster shall be its most cost-effective EV but – and it has a celebration trick

One of the biggest complaints about electric vehicles is their inflated price tags. But following a raft of recent new reveals of affordable EVs that are set to reposition the market, Hyundai has now thrown its hat into the ring with the new Inster.

The compact supermini is set to cost from £22,000, which would put it amongst the least expensive battery models on sale when it arrives early next year.

Offering funky looks and a range of over 200 miles, it has a very impressive party trick inside the cabin that could make this the ideal small weekend getaway car for couples and campers who are eco-conscious at heart.

What’s the Hyundai Inster’s party piece? 

At 3.8 metres long, 1.6 metres wide and the same high, the Inster is certainly not the biggest of EVs.

In fact, in terms of dimensions, it has positioned itself perfectly between the two cheapest EVs currently on sale in Britain: the £14,995 Dacia Spring and £21,990 Citroen e-C3.

And the Inster should be priced competitively with the latter, with an almost identical entry price hinted by the Korean outfit.

Despite the car’s relatively compact footprint, Hyundai bosses promise it can transport five people in comfort.

This is thanks to a combination ingeniously practical packaging and a configurable interior – which is the party piece that could make the Inster ‘Insta famous’ among leisure influencers.

The four seats can independently be folded flat, while the two in the rear slide on rails and can recline to provide copious amounts of room for your long-legged friends and family – though that will compromise the boot space.

But the best feature of all is the Inster’s option to fold all four chairs flat. Bring along a roll-up mattress and you’ve got yourself the equivalent of a king-size bed (which measure 1.5 metres wide and 2.0 metres long) for you and your other half.

How far can you go in the Hyundai Inster on a full charge? 

From launch in the first half of next year, the Inster will be available with two drivetrain options powered different nickel-cobalt-manganese battery packs.

The ‘Standard’ £22,000 version will get 42.kWh battery linked to a 96bhp front-mounted electric motor that delivers a 0-to-62mph sprint time of 11.7 seconds and top speed of 87mph. 

Range is said to be up to 186 miles between charges.

Not enough for you?

Then you will have to choose the ‘Long-Range’ variant, which will likely come at a premium closer to £25,000 but up the battery size to 49kWh and power to 113bhp, which should cut the 0-to-62mph sprint time to just 10.6 seconds.

Range is longer at 221 miles, though the top speed is limited to 93mph to ensure users don’t empty the battery too quickly. 

The flagship ‘long-range’ Inster is boosted to 113bhp and 49kWh, taking its range to 217 miles and its top speed to 93mph, while reducing its 0-62mph time to 10.6sec.

Both versions come as standard with a heat pump and 85kW (DC) charging capabilities to bolster both efficiency and charge time.

For those looking to juice up with electricity en route, a compatible charger can up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent capacity in just half an hour. 

An affordable price means less kit, right?

Not at all.

 In fact, the Inster looks to be on par, if not better equipped than its nearest rivals.

The Korean car firm believes connectivity is where it will gazump the competition, with a pair of 10.25-inch displays – one being the instrument cluster and the other the touchscreen infotainment screen.

Inside, the material for the cockpit is recycled polyethylene terephthalate – a mix of repurposed bottles and bio-polypropylene material extracted from sugarcane. 

It will also have the functionality to unlock and start the car using a smartphone ‘key’ via a dedicated app.

The suite of driver assistance tech is equally as impressive.

Inster boasts a 360-degree parking camera and adaptive cruise control – features rarely found in vehicles this small, though some would argue the parking support is overkill for such a compact vehicle.

There’s even the blindspot monitoring system shared with bigger Tucson SUV; this projects the view from camera on the rear quarters of the car onto the instrument cluster so you can avoid cutting up other motorists when switching to flanking lanes on the motorway.

Additionally, it receives the brand’s novel blindspot monitoring system, which projects a camera image of your rear quarter view onto the instrument panel as you indicate.

When can I get one?

Hyundai boss, Simon Loasby – the senior vice president at design – says Inster will ‘take the small SUV image to a bold new place for the global audience’.

He adds: “Inster punches well above its weight with distinctive design and an interior that maximizes its potential in exciting, customer-centric ways. 

‘With Inster, we’re redefining what it means to drive a sub-compact EV.’

With prices set to start from £22,000, the Inster won’t be redefining the cheaper end of the small EV market, with the Dacia Spring having that well and truly tied up with a starting price point some £7,000 below the Hyundai.

And the UK might not even get the option of the cheaper Inster, as reports suggest Britain’s drivers might only be offered the longer range variant.

Order books should open later this year, with first deliveries from spring 2025.