New Hyundai Inster Coming Soon: Specs, price and release info

The Hyundai Inster will be an all-electric city car ready to take on the new wave of more affordable EVs hitting the market. Small on the outside and roomy on the inside, the Inster will major on practicality whilst also bringing a distinctive touch of character to the party.
• Slightly longer than the petrol i10, the Inster will be the smallest electric car in Hyundai’s line-up • With its compact dimensions the Inster provides lots of interior space and plenty of safety tech • It’s got a range of up to 229 miles • First deliveries expected January 2025 • Prices starting from £23,495

To us the Inster resembles what might happen if you were to cross a Suzuki Ignis with a Tamagotchi. While some will like the round headlights and 1980s inspired pixel LEDs we’ve seen on the Ioniq 5, others might need a bit more time to get used to the overall look. It’s based on the Hyundai Casper, a petrol-powered model only available in Korea with boxy proportions and SUV inspired styling, effectively Hyundai’s answer to the Toyota Aygo X. While the Inster has the manoeuvrability of a small city car, it promises to offer increased levels of practicality due to its higher roofline freeing up plenty of room inside. The Inster will be available in nine different colours and with two levels of trim; 01 and 02.

Hyundai has utilised the Inster’s proportions to make the most of the interior space available. The two rear seats can slide back and forth independently to increase the boot space or capitalise on legroom. Meanwhile all the seats fold completely flat so you could even convert your Inster into a tiny electric campervan. The car is packed with an array of the latest driver aids which include blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, a reversing camera, parking sensors on the front and back and alerting to prevent you reversing out onto traffic depending on your level of trim. Other features include customisable ambient lighting, a sunroof, digital keys, a large digital display for the driver and another 10.25-inch central infotainment screen. There’s plenty of storage and a wireless phone charging slot within the central console. Due to the space between the front seats and the welcome addition of physical buttons for things like the climate control, it has a slightly retro feel and reminds us of the quirky Fiat Multipla.

The standard range Inster will come with a 42kWh battery, while a long-range version with a larger battery and fractionally more power is predicted to travel up to 229 miles on a single charge. In ideal conditions the Inster will have the ability to charge from 10-80 per cent in around 30 minutes and it will also have Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capability. This mean you’ll be able to charge other devices or vehicles from its battery, so you could top-up your e-bike or power camping equipment. To help improve efficiency, all Insters will come with a battery heating system and heat pump.

Hyundai has confirmed prices will start at £23,495 for the Inster 01 which will feature a 42kWh battery and 97 horsepower. The 01 will also be available with a 49kWh battery which gets 115 horsepower and around 220 miles of range. Alternatively, there will also be an Inster 02 featuring the 49kWh battery and additional extras such as heated front seats and LED headlights. This makes the Inster slightly more expensive than the new Citroën ë-C3 and we will have to wait and see how it compares to other upcoming models such as the Volkswagen ID.2all. Order books will open later this year and there will be an opportunity to view the Inster at dealerships around the country in October and December with first deliveries expected in January 2025.

Along with the Inster, Hyundai has promised a more rugged Inster Cross with a bit of an outdoorsy vibe to it. At the other end of the scale, we are expecting larger new electric cars from Hyundai too, including the Ioniq 7, a sister car to Kia’s EV9 and an N version of the Ioniq 6.

In addition to the smaller and more affordable electric cars we mentioned above, there’s also the Dacia Spring, Skoda Epiq, Renault 5 and Fiat Grande Panda expected to rival the Inster.