Hyundai Inster 2025 Review

The 2025 Hyundai Inster is a funky-looking tiny-tot EV that also claims the honour of being Australia’s cheapest electric SUV. Sort of.

The run-out Jeep Avenger is on-sale for $40,000 drive away and the new MGS5 EV is $40,490 drive away as an introductory offer, so they actually are clearly ahead – at least temporarily. The BYD Atto 3 and Chery E5 are now $39,990 plus on-road costs (ORCs) as well.

The Inster comes in three models, starting off with the $39,000 plus ORCs Standard Range being tested here, then comes the $42,500 plus ORCs Extended Range and the range-topping $45,000 plus ORCs Inster Cross faux off-roader.

The Standard Range is the only Inster to come with a 71.1kW/147Nm e-motor and 42kWh lithium-ion battery driving the front wheels. The range claim is 327km (WLTP).

The other two models bump up to an 84.5kW/147Nm e-motor and 49kWh battery. They both claim a 360km range, dropping back to 293km if you no-cost option the Cross’ roof basket rather than its panoramic sunroof.

The 120kW DC fast charging claim is modest but so are battery sizes, so a 10 to 80 per cent recharge can take as little as 30 minutes, Hyundai says. AC charging maxes out at 10.5kW.

Standard Range gear highlights include distinctive round pixel LED – also known as smart LED – headlights, 15-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, dual 10.25-inch infotainment and instrument screens, cabled Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, AM/FM and digital DAB radio, six-speaker audio, embedded satnav with over-the-air updates, the Bluelink smartphone app, recycled PET cloth seats, single-zone climate control and even a vehicle-to-load (V2L) feature that accesses the high-voltage battery to power electrical gear like tools and laptops.

The Extended Range swaps to 17-inch wheels, while the Inster Cross gets – among other things – its own (17-inch) wheel design, a body kit, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel and artificial leather interior.

Safety spec for the Insters is let down by no airbag protection for rear-seat passengers. Even the curtain airbags only cover row one. There’s no ANCAP rating and with that omission it won’t be great if it ever gets one.

Safety gear it does get includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, various lane-keeping assists, rear cross-traffic avoidance, blind-spot collision avoidance, tyre-pressure monitoring, traffic-sign recognition (although it turns off with the annoying overspeed alert) and driver monitoring. The LED headlights have auto high beam adjust.

The Inster Cross alone gets a surround-view monitor, blind-spot view monitoring, parking collision avoidance, an electrochromatic mirror and front parking sensors.

There are nine recycled-tyre paint choices of which six are optional and cost an extra $595 for metallic/mica and $1000 for matte. Inster has a two-tone option as well. The Inster Extended Range and Inster Cross also get two interior trim choices.

The Inster comes with Hyundai’s five-year warranty that will soon grow to seven years and be backdated to January 2025. It comes with lifetime roadside assist if you service with Hyundai.

Speaking of which, service intervals are spaced out every two years/30,000km. The first two services are quoted at $1310 on the Hyundai website.

The high-voltage battery warranty is eight years/160,000km.

The 2025 Hyundai Inster is a real Noddy car. It’s just 3825mm long (plus 20mm for the Inster Cross), 1610mm wide and high and it weighs in under 1400kg in all bar its heaviest form.

Those two factors allow the Inster to tap the maximum from its tiny powertrain. In urban areas where the Inster obviously does its best work, our Standard Range’s average consumption on test was 9.8kWh/100km. That’s spectacular and well below the 14.3kWh/100km claim.

It means the Inster should easily blow past its WLTP range claim if its sticks to the ’burbs.

As is the norm with Hyundai group EVs, the Inster provides multiple levels of electricity regeneration up to one-pedal driving via paddles on the steering wheel. Really, why doesn’t everyone do it this way? It’s very effective and makes the whole experience of driving the car more interactive.

The light weight and compact form also allow the e-motor to provide prompt response – especially if in sport mode. Even with a couple of hundred kilos’ worth of passengers onboard it had no trouble keeping up with the traffic.

On the open road it happily ran at 100km/h plus, although consumption pushed into the teens. The Standard’s 0-100km/h claim is 11.7 seconds, which feels a bit conservative versus reality. The big motor drops that to 10.6 seconds.

If you’re used to driving orthodox mini cars and finding them a bit of a racket as their tiny petrol engines get flogged, you’ll find the Inster a much quieter experience thanks to its e-motor.

Rolling on an extended wheelbase version of the platform shared with its Korean petrol relation, the Casper, the Inster handles and steers neatly and lightly and responds to inputs rapidly. It has a turning circle of just 10.6m, which makes it perfect for around town.

And yet, thanks that long 2500mm wheelbase – well, long relative to its overall size – it also rode most bumps well. Its beam rear axle didn’t enjoy speed bumps, but that’s no surprise. The Inster has had local fettling of its suspension and Hyundai says it carries a unique combination of shocks and springs for local conditions. Seems to work really well.

The long wheelbase also releases a huge amount of space in the rear seat. There was so much knee and headroom it made it easy for a tall adult to fit.

In fact, two could sit side by side quite comfortably. Sensibly though, given its narrowness, Hyundai has omitted a centre rear seatbelt, making this only a four-seater.

Up front the surfaces are hard, albeit pleasingly designed with speckled inserts and exposed giant screw heads, so it’s not at all minimalist to sit in. Tesla could learn from this thing when it comes to a welcoming atmosphere. Physical buttons for basic audio and climate functions are appreciated.

There are also various menus to drill into if you wish to customise things like the appearance of the instrument panel. You can go from ‘classic’ circular dials, which change colour depending on the drive mode, to ‘cube’, where the digits representing speed and power are encased in three-dimensional boxes. It’s a look.

Seats are also big relative to the vehicle’s overall size and pretty squishy and comfy. The driver’s seat includes height adjust and the steering wheel adjusts for reach and rake through a reasonable range. The steering wheel rim is a compact size that is just right for the car and encased in leather. Pixel lights on the steering wheel boss apparently communicate drive modes and charge status. I never really noticed them.

The gear selector is on a stalk and there is a start/stop button – not all EVs get them – on the dashboard. Drive modes are changed via a press button hanging off the steering wheel, just like a Ferrari … well, sort of.

That pricing is a real issue for the 2025 Hyundai Inster. Sure, it’s competitive against other electric SUVs, but it is a smaller vehicle with less passenger and luggage space.

In fact, it’s so small, it’s right at the lower limit of what many Aussies would even consider a car given our preference for bigger and bigger SUVs and utes.

Bear in mind there are now several significantly cheaper Chinese EVs, starting at $29,990 (plus ORCs) for the BYD Dolphin Essential, and you can see the challenge.

Sure, the Dolphin is a passenger car rather than an SUV but let’s be real here: the Inster is an SUV in name only. It’s a small electric hatchback, just like the Dolphin, GWM Ora and MG4, all of which start cheaper.

It’s going to be a hard argument for the Inster to win.

Sadly, for many people, the Inster won’t improve its case with its intrusive bing-bongs and steering assists. Off-off-off-off. Every time you start the car.

That’s one of the few irritants directly related to driving the car. Some people might also find the ride on the Extended Range/Inster Cross 17-inch tyres a bit more grumbly.

Hyundai made a big deal about the fold-flat seats that can make a bed, but that feature is limited to the Inster Cross. The rear seats in the Insters do slide, which helps with leg space.

The narrowness of the Inster makes it cosy for sizable adults sitting alongside each other front or back. Door bins are too narrow to fit in even modest water bottles.

There is no centre console, instead the driver’s seat is extended to a sort of bench to incorporate dual cupholders. A smartphone can be stored in its charger within the protruding centre stack. In the back seat there are virtually no creature comforts.

There’s also a limited amount of luggage space in the boot, starting at 280 litres, then 351L with seats moved forward and expanding to as much as 1059L if the rear seat is 50:50 split-folded. Some of that room underfloor is created because there is no spare tyre.

Motoring journalists have a reputation for giving vehicles the kiss of death. We applaud small, efficient cars with character that promptly do nothing in the showroom.

Hello Skoda Roomster. Goodbye Skoda Roomster.

So extolling the substantial virtues of the Hyundai Inster feels fraught with danger.

But it does have good points – zest and a frugal powertrain that punches above its weight, engaging driving manners and a flexible and well-presented interior.

But it’s going to struggle. And that’s because of the price-versus-size equation. Sorry, been banging on about this, but in a market where EVs sales are stagnant and prices are dropping, the Inster’s price condemns it to curiosity status.

Got to say too, the lack of airbags for the rear passengers sticks in the craw a bit.

So good luck Inster, you’re impressive in so many ways. At $30,000 you would have been even moreso.

2025 Hyundai Inster Standard Range at a glance:
Price: $39,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 71.1kW/147Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 42kWh lithium-ion
Range: 327km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 14.3kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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