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The Hyundai INSTER is an electric city car that thinks it’s an SUV, with lots of visual character, a range of up to 229 miles, and a thoughtful and flexible interior layout.
City cars are hard to make into EVs because they’re so small, so it’s a challenge to fit a battery that’s large enough to give a decent range, and they’re also difficult to build profitably. As a result there haven’t been many electric city cars to date, so it’s great that Hyundai has brought the INSTER to market, complete with lots of the brand’s features that we like.
Let’s start with the design. The INSTER has lots of visual character with details such as large circular headlights and futuristic “Parametric Pixel LED combination lights” at the rear. It’s a small city car (just over 3.8 metres long) but it looks like an SUV (don’t try off-roading in it, you won’t get very far). However note that there’s also the INSTER Cross, which Hyundai describes as featuring “outdoor-focused interior and exterior design”, and which therefore looks even more like an SUV (still don’t try off-roading in it).
The INSTER is a four-seater with a 280-litre boot, with a storage compartment under the boot floor, or 1,059 litres with the rear seats folded, but it also has the ability to slide the rear seats forwards and backwards, so you can have more rear legroom, or more boot space – a brilliant (but obvious?) feature which all small cars should have. And as well as the ability to ‘walk-through’ between the front seats (most useful for children?) in the top ‘02’ trim level, all four seats can be folded flat, so as well as being a city car with SUV styling, it can also be converted into a mini-camper van (well, sort of).
The INSTER is admirably light, weighing only 1,335 kg, so don’t expect it to be able to tow anything, but you can put 75 kg on the roof.
The INSTER has a 42kWh battery as standard, or a ‘Long-Range’ 49kWh battery as an option. Models with the 42kWh battery deliver 97 PS of power, with the Long-Range variant producing 115 PS. Both versions offer 147 Nm of torque and are front-wheel drive.
Thanks to its low 1,335 kg kerb weight, the Hyundai INSTER feels light and agile to drive, which is a refreshing change in the world of EVs. This also helps it to be efficient, and despite the relatively meagre power output and what sounds like a slow 0-62 mph acceleration time of 10.6 seconds, performance feels perfectly adequate. You can even switch off the traction control system.
The INSTER is primarily designed for city driving but it’s perfectly capable of tackling motorways, even if there’s some road noise and if it doesn’t feel as planted to the road as a sports saloon due its small 17-inch wheels and narrow tyres. And it’s the tyres that are the one main area for improvement for urban driving; they’re fairly low profile, which means that although the primary ride quality is fine on smooth roads, the secondary ride comfort is harsh when you hit a pothole – and there are lots of potholes to hit, especially in our main testing environment of South Manchester.
The INSTER’s driving controls have been really well thought through. The gear selector is behind the bottom right of the steering wheel, there are steering wheel-mounted paddles for adjusting the amount of brake regeneration, and there’s a drive mode button really conveniently located on the bottom left of the steering wheel; press this once and you’re in Sport mode (there are also Eco, Normal and Snow modes). There’s even another super-convenient button on the steering wheel that you can press once to deactivate the lane departure warning system.
And there’s more: the INSTER’s dashboard has physical buttons! There are shortcut buttons for the infotainment system under the touchscreen, and then a whole array of buttons for climate controls, as well as a volume dial.
Of course there’s also the obligatory central touchscreen (10.25 inches in size), as well as a 10.25-inch driver’s digital display. Unlike many of the latest cars where the USB sockets are well and truly hidden away from view and from being accessible, the INSTER has a USB and a USB-C socket on the dashboard right in front of the passenger, which is yet another user-friendly feature.
The driver’s seat has manual adjustment, and you can’t change the angle of the seat base, so the driving position won’t be ideal for everyone.
The Hyundai INSTER 02 49kWh has an official WLTP combined electric driving range of 223 miles (or 229 miles for the 01 trim level). After a week on test the INSTER was averaging 220 miles of real-world range, which is impressively close to the official figure. The entry-level model with the smaller 42kWh battery has an official WLTP combined electric driving range of 203 miles.
Thanks in part to its light weight, the INSTER is very efficient, with a WLTP electrical consumption figure of 4.7 miles/kWh, or 4.8 miles/kWh for the 42kWh model. The INSTER has a maximum rapid DC charging rate of 85 kW, and a 11 kW on-board AC charger.
The INSTER has a standard high efficiency heat pump and battery heating system, and Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality providing power for electrical devices, both externally via the charging socket, and internally via a three-pin plug socket at the bottom of the dashboard centre console.
The INSTER is available in 01 and 02 trim levels.
The range starts with the INSTER 01 42kWh 97PS, with 15-inch alloy wheels, priced from £23,495. The 01 is also available with the 49kWh battery, increasing power to 115PS and range to 229 miles.
Priced from £26,745, the INSTER 02 49kWh 115PS has 17-inch alloy wheels, fold-flat front seats, sliding rear seats, heated front seats and heated steering wheel.
Our INSTER 02 test car in matte Aero Silver featured the option of a black contrast roof and door mirrors and a Tech Pack comprising Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) internal 3 pin plug and digital key system that allows the vehicle to be unlocked and started with a compatible smartphone.
The INSTER is available in nine exterior colours; three solid finish choices of Natural Ivory, Atlas White, and Jungle Khaki, a metallic option of Sienna Orange, two pearl finishes of Buttercream Yellow and Abyss Black and three matte options of Bijarim Khaki, Dusk Blue and Aero Silver.
The Hyundai INSTER is a rare beast: an electric city car. It’s even more unique by having a characterful SUV design style. And you can turn it into a mini-camper van by folding all seats flat (in 02 trim level). Even if you don’t need to do this, what’s really useful is the ability to slide the rear seats forwards and backwards, to give more space for the boot, or for rear legroom. And all model variants offer a range of over 200 miles – with up to 229 miles possible with the INSTER 01 with the 49kWh battery. Further differentiation is provided by featuring physical buttons on the dashboard, along with Hyundai’s user-friendly drive mode switch and lane departure warning deactivation button on the steering wheel, and steering wheel-mounted paddles for changing the level of brake regen. And starting at £23,495, it’s a welcome addition at the more affordable end of the EV price spectrum
Aside from not being designed for relaxing long motorway journeys, the only main area for improvement is to fit slightly higher profile tyres to improve the ride quality over potholed urban roads.
The Hyundai INSTER is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10.
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