Hyundai is gearing up for an assault on the mainstream electric car market with the new Inster, its smallest and most affordable EV yet.
It is based on the Hyundai Casper, a diminutive city car that has so far been sold exclusively with a petrol engine in the Korean market. Its platform has been stretched by 230mm (with a 180mm of that growth in its wheelbase), improving both practicality and the available space for an underfloor battery pack.
The Inster measures 3.8m long, 1.6m wide and 1.6m tall, which positions it between the Dacia Spring and the Citroën ë-C3. Despite the car's smaller footprint, Hyundai insiders are confident that the Inster is as practical as its five-seat rivals, thanks to its efficient packaging and configurable interior. Its wheelbase almost matches that of the larger Hyundai i20, for example, and the Inster’s four seats are more versatile than those in traditional hatchbacks. Each can be folded completely flat and the two rear seats are also capable of sliding and reclining to open up more leg room or boot space as it’s needed.
The Inster will be offered with two battery and motor configurations at launch. Entry-level cars get a 96bhp front-mounted drive unit that delivers a 0-62mph sprint time of 11.7sec and a top speed of 87mph. It’s paired with a 42kWh battery pack, which is claimed to deliver a range of 186 miles between charges.
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 use the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) chemistry and all Insters get a heat pump and 85kW (DC) charging capabilities as standard.
Although those specifications place the Inster roughly on a par with its class mates, Hyundai believes that it will stand out for its interior connectivity and on-board technologies. Inside, all versions get a pair of 10.25in displays (an instrument panel and an infotainment touchscreen), and you can use your smartphone as a ‘key’ to unlock and start the car.
Join the debate
Add your comment
> "Affordable"> "City car"> "£22k"
Gonna have to knock at least £10k off to actually be an affordable little city car. Also why is it so tall?
On the face of it this is a much better proposition than the Dacia Spring. Yet it will cost 50% more, offer a longer range and higher performance which many people will not need... and it looks so damn ugly!
So my money is with the Dacia - assuming its price doesn't suddenly escalate as a result of the new Chinese import tarifs.
I think they confused the 50 year old demographic with the 70 plus one.