Hyundai has taken the wraps off its latest all-electric model, a new baby SUV known as the Inster. Here’s hoping it has more than a gram of talent…
Don’t expect family-friendly practicality from this particular SUV, though, because it really is dinky. However, from the details recently released by Hyundai, there should be plenty of other stuff to like about this new electric vehicle. Here’s what we know so far.
2025 Hyundai Inster: Price, specs and release date
- 2025 Hyundai Inster: styling and dimensions
- 2025 Hyundai Inster: interior design and practicality
- 2025 Hyundai Inster: motors, batteries and dynamics
- 2025 Hyundai Inster: price and release date
2025 Hyundai Inster: styling and dimensions
So precisely how dinky is the Inster? According to the dimensions provided by Hyundai, the new car is 3,825mm in length, 1,610mm in width (excluding door mirrors), and 1,575mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,580mm. That makes it about the size of a Suzuki Jimny, and just a fraction bigger than the Dacia Spring, another recently released city-car-sized all-electric urban SUV.
To our eye, the upright, boxy proportions of the new Hyundai Inster aren’t dissimilar to those of the Suzuki Ignis (which is also a bit smaller than the Inster as an SUV-inspired city car), but the Hyundai’s details are even bolder. There’s a pixel design on the front bumper that’s borrowed from the brand’s larger Ioniq electric models (the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6), along with bold circular accents for the LED daytime running lights, plus a decorative skid plate for some extra visual ruggedness.
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The side sills and the squared-off wheelarches have plastic linings to give more of an off-road-ready flavour, while rear door handles that are integrated into the window section of the door help reduce visual clutter. At the rear end of the car, you’ll find flared wheelarces, a pixel motif for the rear lighting, plus another decorative skid plate to finish off the look of the squat back end. If the design still isn’t rugged enough for you, Hyundai will also, in time, offer a version called the Inster Cross (pictured below), which will have chunkier body cladding, bespoke wheels and a standard roof rack.
Nine colours are available - three solid, one metallic, two pearl, and three matte - and as an option, you can choose to specify a contrasting black roof to give a two-tone effect.
In terms of rivals, the aforementioned Dacia Spring will be one - albeit at a far lower price point - as will other SUV-inspired electric city car offerings such as the Citroen e-C3.
2025 Hyundai Inster: interior design and practicality
The Inster’s dinky dimensions are reflected by the fact that it only has four seats: Hyundai didn’t even bother trying to squeeze a fifth in, which was probably wise in fairness. We haven’t encountered the car in person yet, so we can’t testify to the amount of interior spaciousness provided, but we’re confident that the car’s upright stance will help on both headroom and legroom.
In the entry-level version - known as the 01 - you get a boot capacity of 280 litres. In the range-topper - the 02 - you get rear seats that recline and slide backwards and forwards for a bit more versatility, and the boot space you get is given at between 238 to 351 litres depending on the position of those. In both versions, the rear seats fold down in a 50/50 split to free up 1,059 litres of cargo space. We’re told that all the Inster’s seats can be folded flat, including the driver’s. We’re not sure what the benefit of this is on the move, but we suppose it might come in handy should some impromptu camping be required.
We’ve only seen one image of the interior so far, but it suggests lively colour schemes and a cheerful, quirky design. Two 10.25-inch screens are standard-issue, one digital cluster behind the steering wheel for your important driving information, and one in the middle of the dashboard for all your infotainment functionality. The central touchscreen appears to run similar software to that found in other Hyundai models, which should make it impressively easy to use. Even better, the centre console appears to have physical air-con controls with chunky, easy-to-hit buttons, plus large shortcut buttons for the infotainment system. All of this bodes well for ergonomics.
2025 Hyundai Inster: motors, batteries and dynamics
As well as two trim levels, there are also two powertrain options with the Inster line-up. The 01 trim can be had with both, but the 02 can only be had with the higher-grade Long Range option.
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The standard option has a 96bhp electric motor powered by a 42 kWh battery, giving a driving range of 203 miles according to provisional pre-homologation (non-WLTP) figures. The 0-62mph time is given at 11.7 seconds, and the top speed at 87mph.
The Long Range variant has more power at 113bhp, and a bigger battery at 49kWh. The quoted electric range stands at 229 miles on a single charge for the car in 01 spec, but that drops to 223 miles in 02 trim. On both, expect a 0-62mph time of 10.6 seconds, and a top speed of 93mph.
AC charging times are only quoted for an 11kW connection, and these stand at four hours for the standard car and four and a half hours for the Long Range. However, most UK homes don’t have the three-phase electrics necessary to support those sorts of charging speeds, so a 7.4kW domestic supply is much more common. We estimate charging times of more like seven to nine hours on one of these.
The standard range car has a maximum DC charging rate of up to 73kW, while the Long Range ups that to 85kW, but the latter’s bigger battery means both cars will take around half an hour for a 10%-80% top-up when charging at full speed on a rapid charger.
2025 Hyundai Inster: price and release date
Hyundai prices the 01 version of the Inster from £23,495 in standard form, rising to £25,045 for the Long Range. The 02 version can only be had in Long Range form, and that costs £26,745.
If you’re looking to pay monthly, at the time of writing Hyundai was quoting PCP prices at between £249 and £296 per month. That’s based on a 48-month contract capped at 8,000 miles per year, with a £4,000 deposit.
Confirmation of the precise on-sale date is yet to be received from Korea, but we expect orders to open imminently. It’s also unclear when the first examples will arrive in the UK, but we predict that it’ll be the first half of 2025.
In terms of equipment specifications, the 01 version comes with:
- Alloy wheels
- Automatic lights and wipers
- Leather steering wheel
- 50/50 split folding rear seats
- Single-zone climate control
- Front and rear electric windows
- Power folding door mirrors
- A heat pump and battery heater
- Vehicle-to-load capability
- Rear parking sensors
- A reversing camera
- Keyless entry and start
In addition to that roster, there's the infotainment system with Bluetooth, DAB radio, voice control, navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and two front USB-C ports. And for safety kit and driver aids, you get adaptive smart cruise control, forward collision avoidance assist, blind spot assist, and lane keeping assist.
The Inster 02 version adds to that roof rails, heated front seats, sliding and reclining rear seats, LED headlamps and rear lights, privacy glass, a heated steering wheel, front parking sensors, a rear USB-C port, a wireless phone charger, and ambient lighting.