Hyundai Inster Review & Prices

This is the new Hyundai Inster. It’s a fully-electric hatchback with a bit of an SUV flavour to its looks, and it’s a bit like a Casio watch - it looks unbelievably cool for how cheap it is.

Many cheap electric car alternatives, such as the Dacia Spring and Citroen e-C3, are making headlines lately, and so the Inster can count those among its competition along with existing cheap EVs such as the MG4 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric.

The Inster is based on the same design as a Korea-only petrol car called the Casper, and its styling is a real standout feature. Funky is the best word to describe it - it has squat dimensions, with bulbous wheelarches giving it a cool stance, while up front friendly-looking circular headlights have pixel-style ‘eyebrows’ for the daytime running lights.

The back is similar to the front with more pixels and circular lamp units. It’s like Hyundai took the blocky styling of the Ioniq 5, shrunk it down and made it cute. It works extremely well.

Hyundai Inster: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 203-229 miles
Efficiency: 4.7 - 4.8 mi/kWh
Battery size: 42 - 49kWh
Max charge speed: 120kW
Charge time AC: 6 - 7hrs, 0-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: < 30 mins, 0-80%, 120kW
Charge port location: Front
Power outputs: 97 - 115hp

The interior is a bit less stylised, but still looks impressively upmarket for such a cheap car. There are twin 10.25-inch displays for the infotainment and driver information, set high on the dash above a central ‘pod’ containing plenty of physical switchgear - always nice to see. This pod also allows for step-through access in the front seats, which is a boon in the city as it means you can slide across and get out onto the pavement no matter which side of the road you’re parked on.

Material quality is good, with switches and buttons shared with larger, more expensive Hyundais, and there are some nice styling touches too such as warm ambient lighting and a light beige and brown colour palette. Most models, however, will get a more familiar black trim - the beige is available only on top-spec models in specific exterior colours.

The inside also looks extremely spacious. The tall silhouette should mean plenty of headroom, and rear legroom is very generous for such a small car. The rear seats slide back and forth, allowing you to balance boot space with rear legroom, and they also recline way back for extra comfort.

Even the front seats can fold flat, which allows for some cool features. The rear passenger can recline and use the front seatback as a footrest, which is very luxurious - but you can also fold down both front seats and the rear seats for a fully-flat area perfect to sit an airbed on top of for in-car camping - a South Korean craze called ‘chabak’.

With the rear seats slid all the way back you still get 280 litres of space - that’s about on par with a small hatchback - but slide them forwards and you get an e-C3 and Spring-beating 351 litres.

There are two versions of the Inster. The entry-level car has a 42kWh battery and 97hp electric motor, which gives 203 miles of range - more than the Dacia Spring or Citroen e-C3, though the MG4 still comes out on top.

There’s also a long-range model with a 229-mile range and a slightly more powerful 115hp motor. That’s good enough for 0-62mph in 10.6s, which won’t win any Carwow drag races but is nippy enough for most driving scenarios.

Check out our best Hyundai Inster deals right here on Carwow. You can also look over our best Hyundai deals on other models, or find a used Hyundai for sale here. And remember, Carwow can even help you sell your old car when the time comes.

Two trim levels are available for the Inster, imaginatively named 01 and 02. The former kicks off from around £23,500, which sits it in between the Citroen e-C3 and the MG4 with a couple of thousand pounds either side.

The 01 cars get adaptive cruise control, climate control and a reversing camera along with those feature-packed twin displays on the dashboard. They also get 15-inch alloy wheels.

Step up to the 02 model and you’ll get 17-inch wheels, LED headlights, heated front seats and interior ambient lighting along with those clever fold-flat seats. Both cars do get a heat pump and battery heating system included as standard, which is rare on more expensive EVs let alone budget ones - it’s a great touch that should ensure more reliable winter ranges and charging speeds.