This little cutie is the Hyundai Inster, an electric city car that’s just gone on sale in the UK. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t be that interested in it, but just look at it! Don’t you just want to scruffle its head like it’s a giant electric puppy?
The Inster – that name, apparently, derives from the words ‘intimate’ and ‘innovative’ – is actually an all-electric version of a petrol car that’s already been on sale in Korea for a few years, the Casper. Much like the eponymous ghost, it’s a very friendly-looking little thing and was developed around a sort of Korean equivalent of Japan’s kei car regulations, albeit slightly less restrictive.
While the Casper has a little 1.0-litre petrol engine, the Inster gets a single electric motor powering the front wheels, making 96bhp in standard form or 113bhp in the Long-Range version. The lower-powered car, with its 42kWh battery, gets a quoted maximum range of 203 miles, while the more powerful version has a bigger 49kWh unit, bumping range to a max of 229 miles. Shockingly, performance isn’t exactly face-melting – the 96bhp car will hit 62mph in 11.7 seconds and top out at 87mph, while the 113bhp car improves those numbers (slightly) to 10.6 seconds and 93mph.
It maintains the petrol Casper’s ‘chunky 4×4 on a hot wash’ looks, with those big, circular LED daytime running lights. It also transfers over the bold, blocky pixel-style LED lighting design found on the Ioniq 5 and 6.
Hyundai Inster – rear
On the inside, it has a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, and an infotainment screen of the same size. There’s lots of recycled PET plastic, too, as well as materials extracted from sugar cane, while the high-gloss black stuff on the outside is made from old tyres. Neat.
Unsurprisingly, the Inster is one of the cheapest electric cars you can buy in the UK. An entry-level Inster 01 costs from £23,495, a price undercut only by the ultra-basic Dacia Spring and the Citroen e-C3 (no, the Citroen Ami isn’t a car). Upgrade to the more powerful motor, and you’ll pay from £25,045, while the top-spec Inster 02 – only available in 113bhp guise – starts at £26,745.
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